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LONGUEUIL, Que. — A bar owner accused of fatally shooting a police officer during a botched raid walked to freedom Friday after a jury acquitted him of murder.
Basil Parasiris , who had been charged with the first-degree murder of Laval police Constable Daniel Tessier in March 2007, strode from the courtroom on the arm of wife Penny Gounis.
She exclaimed “Oh, my God” and brushed away tears after the jury foreman announced the not guilty verdict following a dramatic pause.
Mr. Parasiris looked relieved but he and his wife did not make any comments to reporters who trailed the couple to their car.
Basil Parasiris, centre, his wife Penny and brother Nick on the left enter a courtroom in Longueuil, Quebec, June 3, 2008. (The Canadian Press)
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The 42-year-old father was reportedly among the first in Canada to be granted bail while being charged with killing a police officer.
The Crown said it will consider appealing his acquittal.
“The jury might have thought that Mr. Parasiris killed Mr. Tessier in self-defence so you will understand that no decision will be taken today,” said Crown prosecutor Joelle St-Germain. “A committee formed by prosecutors will study the matter.”
Dominique Shoofey, one of Mr. Parasiris's lawyers, was pleased with the verdict.
“Obviously, Mr. Parasiris is satisfied,” Mr. Shoofey said. “He is relieved by the verdict.”
Laval Police Chief Jean-Pierre Gariepy expressed dismay at the decision and reiterated the reason his officers entered Mr. Parasiris's home in the first place.
“Beyond the verdict, it is useful to remember that Mr. Parasiris had four firearms in his home and only one was legally registered,” Chief Gariepy told a news conference Friday night. “We found a variety of drugs and 17 cellphones and pagers in the home.”
But Chief Gariepy also acknowledged the trial had raised concerns about how the police operation was conducted.
He said the force will recommend that Quebec's Public Security Department review the guidelines and training for “dynamic entries” and that it clarify the procedures for obtaining search warrants.
“Any major event calls for a revision of our practices and policies, which is what we started doing the day after Const. Tessier died,” he said.
Other law-enforcement groups indicated they too would reflect on the trial's outcome and the police operation in which Const. Tessier was killed.
Representatives of both the Quebec municipal police federation and the Laval police union stated they would take the necessary time to analyze the judgment.
“This serious event has and will always affect the entire policing community,” said Denis Cote, president of the Quebec municipal police federation.
“Municipal police are professionals and take to heart the security of their citizens.”
Andre Potvin, president of the Laval police union, echoed Mr. Cote's view.
“It goes without saying that reflection is needed,” Mr. Potvin said in a statement.
Mr. Parasiris had maintained that he was defending his family when police smashed through the front door of his south-shore home with a battering ram.
He said he and his wife believed they were the victims of brazen home invaders when he engaged in a wild, yet seconds-long shootout with police who were trying to gain entry to his bedroom.
Mr. Parasiris said he had little time to react to protect his wife and two children, one of whom called 911 for help.
Much of the defence's case centred around whether Const. Tessier, who was in plainclothes and wearing a bulletproof vest with the word “police” on the back, was properly identifiable.
In motions heard before the trial began and kept from the jury, Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer declared illegal the warrant police used to enter Mr. Parasiris's home.
The judge ruled the evidence used to obtain the warrant was insufficient, lacked detailed information and “should not have been issued.”
He said that rights guaranteed to Mr. Parasiris under the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms were violated.
Judge Cournoyer also ruled the so-called dynamic entry by police was unnecessary. He found the aggressive tactic was not originally part of their plan in a crackdown on a cocaine-trafficking ring in the Laval area north of Montreal.
Judge Cournoyer also acquitted Mr. Parasiris of the attempted murder of another police officer during the raid and two weapons-related offences.
Mr. Parasiris still faces several weapons-related offences.
