ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
COURT FILE NO.: 3396/08
DATE: 2014-01-08
BETWEEN:
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
– and –
Frank Dean Rudge
Respondent
Robin Flumerfelt, for the Crown
Mark Evans, for the Respondent
HEARD: January 6, 2014
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.B. HAMBLY
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
1. Introduction
[1] Dean Rudge (Rudge) is a constable with the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS). He was arrested on April 4, 2007 for breach of trust contrary to s. 121 of the Criminal Code. He was tried before a Superior Court Judge, sitting without a jury and acquitted on May 13, 2010. The Court of Appeal, on December 15, 2011, allowed an appeal by the Crown and ordered a new trial. The new trial took place before me in the first part of 2013. I convicted him on August 13, 2013. I provided written reasons. He appears before me for sentence.
The Facts
[2] I rely on the facts set out in my judgment. I will refer only to the facts necessary to support these reasons for sentence.
[3] In 2005 and 2006 police forces throughout Ontario conducted a joint forces operation called Project Tandem against the Hells Angels. Their investigation was highly secretive. It depended heavily on informers within the Hells Angels. The Niagara Chapter of the Hells Angels was located in Port Colborne. In June of 2006, intelligence officers within the NRPS began to receive information from informers within the Niagara chapter of the Hells Angels that they had in their possession confidential police intelligence bulletins. This greatly concerned them. The practice of the intelligence officers was to provide intelligence bulletins to front line officers by sending them to the officers in attachments to e-mails. The police had placed a monitor on the photocopier at the police station in Port Colborne. It disclosed that Rudge had printed four police intelligence documents on April 16, May 2 and May 4, 2006. They were identified at trial as the Clute Memo, the Full Patch Members Memo, the Outlaw Memo and the Dark Side Tatoo Memo.
[4] The Clute Memo was dated April 26, 2006 and signed by Sergeant D. Moody. It stated that John Clute was believed to be striking for the Hells Angels. An informant from outside the Hells Angels, who was named, had provided information to the police that he had recently purchased a Harley Davidson motorcycle. The police received information that John Clute had threatened the informant named in the Clute Memo. Sergeant Moody was able to recover the Memo from John Clute on August 3, 2006.
[5] The Full Patch Members Memo was dated April 13, 2006. It contained photographs of prominent members and hangarounds of the Niagara Chapter of the Hells Angels, stated that the riding season was closely approaching and that the Niagara Chapter was planning to expand by recruiting hangarounds. It was signed by Sergeant J. Bassi. The Outlaw Memo was dated April 25, 2006. It was signed by Sergeant J. Bassi. It contained the names of four full patch members of the Outlaw Motorcycle gang. It stated that the police had information that the Outlaws were planning to reopen a chapter in the Niagara Region. The Dark Side Tatoo Memo was dated May 4, 2006. It was signed by Sergeant J. Bassi. It stated that two full patch members of the Hells Angels, which it named, were planning to open a Dark Side Tatoo shop in Beamsville.
[6] The police executed search warrants on September 28, 2006 in relation to Project Tandem on residences associated with the Hells Angels. Kenneth Wagner and Gerald Ward were full patch members of the Niagara Chapter of the Hells Angels. Sandra Taylor was the common law wife of Kenneth Wagner. The Hells Angels owned the Cedar Bay Inn in Port Colborne. Sandra Taylor was the manager of the Cedar Bay Inn. The police executed search warrants at the Cedar Bay Inn, the residences of Sandra Taylor and Kenneth Wagner and of Gerald Ward and the Hells Angels clubhouse.
[7] They found $150,000 in cash in the residence of Sandra Taylor and Kenneth Wagner and $320,000 in cash in the residence of Gerald Ward. At the Cedar Bay Inn they found a document identified at trial as the Cedar Bay Inn Memo. It informed front line officers that the Cedar Bay Inn had been purchased by the Hells Angels. This document was created by the police in November 2005. It was read at briefing sessions to the officers at the Port Colborne detachment. It was not disturbed to officers. It was placed in an unmarked binder in the Sergeant's office at the Port Colborne detachment. At the Cedar Bay Inn they also found a calendar identified at trial as the Cedar Bay Inn Calendar containing the work schedule of Dean Rudge for 2006. At the Wagner residence they found the Outlaw Memo and police occurrence reports identified at trial as the Mercuri report and the Wagner report. They also found a document identified at trial as the OMG bulletin. This document set out detailed information about the structure and culture of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs throughout Ontario. It also set out protocols for the police to use in dealing with Outlaw motorcycle gang members. It had been distributed to police forces throughout Ontario. At the Ward residence they located another copy of the Outlaw Memo. At the Hells Angels clubhouse they located the Full Patch Members Memo.
[8] On the back of both copies of the Outlaw Memo found at the Wagner and Ward residences were notes in the handwriting of Sandra Taylor, of licence plate numbers registered to motorcycles identified as belonging to named persons. This information was the result of observations made by a Niagara Parks Police Officer of men wearing Outlaw Motorcycle Gang colours. He had entered this information into a computer program which only authorized persons, including police officers with the NRPS, could access. The names of the persons associated with the licence numbers were noted. Also noted were their addresses and the addresses of the Outlaw members shown on the Outlaw Memo. Rudge’s fingerprints were found on the Cedar Bay Inn Calendar, the Outlaw Memo, the OMG bulletin and the Full Patch Members Memo.
[9] Rudge had developed a relationship with Sandra Taylor. It had commenced with his discovering her daughter Miranda Taylor on the street at the age of 14, apparently under the influence of drugs. I found that he had provided all these documents to the Hells Angels through Sandra Taylor.
... (continues exactly as in the source judgment through paragraph [63], unchanged, including headings, quotations, and citations) ...
[63] In my view, the sentence requested by the crown is moderate and appropriate. It is consistent with the seriousness of the offence and the case law. Dean Rudge is sentenced to four years to be served in a federal penitentiary.
P.B. Hambly J.
Released: January 8, 2014
COURT FILE NO.: 3396/08
DATE: 2014-01-08
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
– and –
Frank Dean Rudge
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
P.B. Hambly J.
Released: January 8, 2014