‘Do not compound tragedy with an injustice’: Defence urges jury to acquit Umar Zameer of all charges in death of Const. Northrup

He had other “options and evasive maneuvers” and could have avoided striking and running over the 55-year-old officer in the parking garage below Nathan Phillips Square, she said.

Earlier, Zameer’s lawyer, Nader Hasan, urged jurors to acquit the 34-year-old accountant of all charges — including manslaughter, which requires the Crown to prove he caused Northrup’s death through an unlawful act.

Hasan said jurors must consider the “critical context” that at the time of the “horrifically tragic accident,” Zameer believed he, his pregnant wife, and two-year-old son were in “grave danger” based on his mistaken belief that Northrup and his partner, Lisa Forbes, were criminals.

“In this moment of utter concern and fear for his family, Mr. Zameer didn’t drive at anyone. He drove to escape, to try to save his family from what he thought was imminent harm. What would a reasonable person do differently in that situation?” Hasan asked jurors.

Zameer tried to get away safely by driving straight forward but was boxed in by an unmarked police van. Zameer then reversed his vehicle and “unfortunately, Officer Northrup pursued the BMW as it reversed,” Hasan said. This put him in the path of the BMW, which knocked him to the ground, and when Zameer drove forward, he couldn’t see Northrup and ran over him, Hasan said, noting that two traffic collision experts supported that’s what happened.

Simone asked the jury to reject Hasan’s suggestion that tragedy could have been averted if the police van had not pulled in front of the BMW — “Respectfully, that is speculation,” she said.

Regardless, Zameer made deliberate choices while “protected in his locked vehicle.” She didn’t dispute Zameer’s testimony that he felt under attack, but said his reaction was a “perceived and not rational threat,” noting the officers did not display their weapons.

The Crown is also arguing the evidence supports a manslaughter verdict because Zameer was speeding while trying to get away — A traffic collision reconstruction expert determined Zameer drove 17.6 kilometres per hour in the laneway; 10 is the speed limit in the parking lot.

“Is there anyone who wouldn’t drive 7.6 kilometres per hour over the speed limit in order to protect their family?” Hasan said. “Not how you drive in an ideal scenario, but completely understandable and reasonable under these circumstances.”

During the trial, Forbes and two plainclothes officers who were inside the police van testified that before he was struck, Northrup was standing in the laneway with his arms raised. One suggested he had his badge in his hand. 

On Wednesday, Simone told jurors she and co-counsel Michael Cantlon are not suggesting that’s where Northrup was located when he was struck and said that the officers were mistaken.

If jurors don’t find the impact occurred with Northrup “standing directly in front of the vehicle,” and accept Zameer’s testimony that he didn’t realize Northrup was a police officer, then they should acquit him of first-degree murder, she repeated several times in her closing address.

While she said the officers’ testimony needed to be scrutinized, Simone said Hasan went too far by accusing the three officers of lying and colluding in their testimony. What motivation did they have to lie after watching a colleague die, she asked.

Jurors also have the option of convicting Zameer of second-degree murder if they find that he deliberately ran over Northrup but didn’t know he was an officer.

But Hasan said that convicting his client of anything would “compound tragedy with an injustice.”

Zameer “did not commit a crime ... A terribly unfortunate accident, not a criminal act, is what killed Officer Northrup.”

The defence lawyer also repeated the question he posed in his opening address last month: Why would the law-abiding family man in his thirties — who has never been in trouble, and was out with his family celebrating Canada Day — all of a sudden intend to kill or cause harm to a police officer or anyone else?

Hasan closing address was accompanied by still images taken from exhibits already seen by the jury. They included photos of the family pushing a stroller, their son’s red-and-white, maple-leaf decorated pinwheel, found lying in the backseat of the BMW, and a shot of a bustling Nathan Phillips Square.

The jury will retire to begin deliberating once Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy finishes her legal instructions, which is expected to happen Thursday.