Judge acquits Winnipeg officer of trying to block own speeding ticket despite 'almost implausible' defence

A Winnipeg police officer accused of using his position in the photo radar unit to block his own speeding ticket from being issued has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

During a trial last October, Patrol Sgt. Sean Cassidy admitted to entering the licence plate of his own vehicle into a Winnipeg Police Service system that exempts it from photo radar enforcement.

However, he denied he intended to interfere with his ticket, which had been issued that same day, and said he entered his plate to test the system.

Manitoba provincial court Judge Cindy Sholdice said due to inconsistencies with some of the witness testimony, she was left with reasonable doubt about Cassidy's guilt.

"Mr. Cassidy's explanation for putting his plates on the covert plate list the same day he received confirmation that a ticket would issue — a ticket that he felt he should not be getting — is highly suspicious, convenient and almost implausible," she told a Winnipeg provincial court room on Thursday.

But "when considering his evidence in the context of all the evidence, I'm left in doubt as to his guilt and as such acquittals will be entered" on the charges of unauthorized use of a computer, fraud and obstructing justice, the judge said.

The allegations stem from a photo radar ticket Cassidy received on Oct. 1, 2019. 

Cassidy, a member of the force for more than 20 years, had been removed from the field and placed on desk duty following unrelated charges of assault and improper storage of a firearm laid against him earlier that year.

On the day he received the ticket, he had breakfast with some other officers and then went to check on a problematic intersection, driving in his personal vehicle, according to testimony at the trial.

His vehicle was caught by a photo radar operator driving over the speed limit in a school zone. When he noticed the flash, he turned around and went back to speak to the officer.

Cassidy asked if the radar operator knew who he was, "telling him that they were from the office," Sholdice said.

Details about the encounter given at trial differed.

Cassidy described the interaction as pleasant, saying he joked to others in the minivan that the ticket would give him "something to do," that he would challenge the ticket because he had been performing police duties, and that he wouldn't have received a ticket had he been driving a police vehicle.

Now-retired constable Raymond Howes, who oversaw the photo radar unit, testified at trial that he heard reports an officer had tried to circumvent a ticket.

But Sholdice said his evidence was based on hearsay, and included two different descriptions of events.

The photo radar operator did not testify at the trial.

Covert plates list

Once back at the station, Cassidy testified that he received instructions to enter four new licence plates into the special covert plates list — a database of vehicles exempt from red light and photo radar tickets.

He testified that he couldn't find one of the new plates he had just entered in the system, and so entered his own licence plate as a test, to see if it would show up.

He did this again later that same day, but both times, Cassidy testified that he voided his plates from the list.

The photo radar software keeps a record of who enters a plate into the system and when, but it doesn't make a record of when a plate is inactivated.

Employees with the company contracted by the City of Winnipeg to run the photo radar system testified they later found Cassidy's rejected traffic ticket.

But lack of evidence about the timing of the inactivation of Cassidy's plate, and inconsistencies in the evidence about how and when the ticket was entered into and rejected by the system, left reasonable doubt about Cassidy's guilt, Judge Sholdice said.

Lisa LaBossiere, who represented Cassidy, said he "has always maintained that he never intended to obstruct the course of justice nor abuse his position of public trust and authority."

The court's ruling was thorough, she said in an email to CBC on Friday.

"Our client is ready to move on from this matter. "

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service said it had no comment on Cassidy's acquittal at this time.

Cassidy has faced criminal charges before.

He was charged in January 2019 for an incident in March 2017, where he punched and kneed a 32-year-old man while trying to help other officers arrest him. That case is still before the courts.

The man, who suffered head injuries, filed a civil lawsuit, arguing he was unlawfully arrested and beaten by the officer, who wasn't on duty at the time. A statement of claim has been filed in that case, but no statement of defence has been filed.

In August 2019, Cassidy was charged with the unsafe storage of a firearm and possessing a restricted weapon at an unauthorized place.

He pleaded guilty in June 2020 to unauthorized possession of a restricted weapon and received an absolute discharge, according to court records. A stay of proceedings was issued that month on the unsafe storage charge.