The defense is calling the Toronto police officer's death a tragedy, not a crime

TORONTO – Lawyers for a man accused of killing a Toronto police officer will tell jurors the officer's death was a tragedy, but not a crime.

Defense attorney Nader Hasan, in his closing remarks to jurors today, urged them not to “add tragedy to injustice.”

He said the report provided by his client, Umar Zamir, was supported by security records, physical evidence and testimony from two crash reconstruction experts, one of whom testified for the Crown.

Hasan said the Crown's main witnesses – the three officers who saw the incident – lied repeatedly and jurors would have to “disregard the evidence of everyone else” in order to believe them.

Zamir has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup died on July 2, 2021 after being hit by a car in the Toronto City Hall underground parking lot.

Zamir said he didn't know Northrup and his plainclothes partner were police officers and was scared when two strangers ran up to his car in an empty parking lot shortly after midnight.

He told the court that he tried to drive away quickly to save his family from what he believed to be robbers and did not see anything in front of his car or realize he had hit anyone until he was caught.

Three police officers who witnessed the incident said Northrup was standing in front of the car in the middle of the road when he reached out. Two of them said Northrup fell on the hood and then slid off.

However, two crash reconstruction experts, one of whom was called by the Crown, told the court that Northrup was on the ground when the car rolled over and was run over.

An expert called by the defense said Northrup would not have been able to see Zamir when he was on the ground because he was in the car's blind spot. He also noted that there was no damage to the hood or front end of the car, where he could see the man next to Northrup had been hit in the head.

The court also viewed security footage from the parking garage, which shows an unidentified object believed to be Northrup appearing in front of the vehicle as it moves forward. Northrup cannot be seen from any other point in the video.

The pillar partially blocks the camera's view to the left, obscuring some of the front of the meeting, but there is a clear picture of the road.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 17, 2024.

Paola Lorijo, Canadian Press