Two men, now free to resume lives put on hold after their arrests in the slaying of teenager Abdikiram Abdikiram 11 months ago, could face charges again with new evidence, police and attorneys said yesterday.
But they said once a prosecutor has charges withdrawn, the Crown risks a court battle if it tries to recharge a released person.
"They can do it, but the defence can apply to have it declared an abuse of process," an ex-prosecutor said.
Brendan Crawley, an attorney general's spokesman for Crowns, said the department would not comment on whether any withdrawn charges can be laid again.
Crown attorney Joe Callagham asked a judge Thursday to withdraw charges against two men and a woman accused of harbouring one of them.
"The evidence of the identity of the shooter and the evidence of the degree of participation of the second male are insufficient to pass the test at a preliminary hearing," he told the judge.
"The Crown has no reasonable prospect of conviction on the murder charge."
Owen Anthony Smith and Wendell Damian Cuff, both 25 and each charged with first-degree murder, were later released.
Their lawyers yesterday said the pair would not grant interviews.
Toronto Police spokesman Mark Pugash said investigators are "disappointed" by the decision. They felt they had a case that should go before the court and be judged on the evidence.
"If new information came forward, we'd look at it ... it might be useful," he said yesterday.
But while the file on Abdikiram's fatal shooting last March 14 in Lawrence Heights remains open, "there is no active investigation."
In the wake of complaints from members of the Somalian community that surveillance cameras are useless, Pugash said they have been the key to numerous past convictions, including of killers.
Some Somalian critics said they could not understand why a dramatic surveillance video of the shooter firing repeatedly at a group of young men while walking backwards was insufficient evidence.
But the image, released by police with an appeal for witnesses, shows the shooter in silhouette, plus two people fleeing -- one close to the killer -- the other a block away.
Investigators relied on Abdikiram's five wounded companions to testify, sources said. But Cuff's lawyer, John Struthers, told reporters "they were having difficulty with the witnesses. There is fear and people live by the code, not co-operating with police."
After 20 years in Canada, the victim's father, Ahmed Abdikarim Mohammed, said the family is so upset, it will return to Somalia.
IAN.ROBERTSON@SUNMEDIA.CA
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