SUB-HEADING: "Mom who was wrongly jailed over her daughter's death claims cops used string of terrifying tactics to frame her.
GIST: "A Toronto mother who was acquitted of murdering her disabled teenage daughter, has launched a staggering $10 million lawsuit against the police who pursued her for 13 long years.
Cindy Ali, along with her husband, Allan, filed the bombshell claim eight months after her emotional acquittal in the death of their 16-year-old daughter, Cynara, as reported by the Toronto Star.
The lawsuit alleged that Toronto police were 'determined to convict' her during their relentless year-long investigation.
The incident occurred on February 19, 2011, when Ali made a frantic 911 call claiming two masked men had invaded her Scarborough townhouse.
A Toronto mother who was acquitted of murdering her disabled teenage daughter (pictured), has launched a staggering $10 million lawsuit against the police who pursued her for 13 long years
The lawsuit alleges that Toronto police were 'determined to convict' her during their relenWhen first responders arrived, they found Cynara, who suffered from cerebral palsy, 'without vital signs'.
But what followed was a nightmare that would lead Ali to be convicted of first-degree murder.
She was sentenced to life in prison - before finally acquitted in a dramatic retrial that left even the judge uncertain about 'the truth of the matter'.
Detective Frank Skubic has been accused of refusing to believe Ali's story of a home invasion, and instead quickly developing a theory that she 'fabricated the home invasion story to cover up her involvement in Cynara's death,' per The Star.
However, Ali claims in her lawsuit that the subsequent probe into
'The investigation into the home invasion was conducted to discredit its occurrence,' the filing alleges. 'Officers took little care to secure the scene in the hours following the event, and the forensic team neglected to take fingerprint or DNA samples from several surfaces that Cindy said the home invaders touched.'
When first responders arrived, they found Cynara, who suffered from cerebral palsy, 'without vital signs'
The lawsuit claims police may have planted a mysterious letter in the Ali family's mailbox, purportedly from the 'home invaders' claiming they 'got the wrong house'
The lawsuit claimed police may have planted a mysterious letter in the Ali family's mailbox, purportedly from the 'home invaders' claiming they 'got the wrong house'.
'The Plaintiffs suspect, in light of subsequent events, that it was concocted and planted by (Toronto police) at Skubic's direction,' the lawsuit claimed.
Additionally, undercover officers allegedly set up a fake contest at a shopping mall, offering Ali's other daughter a trip to Niagara Falls - all to gain secret access to the family's home and plant surveillance devices.
'None of the months' worth of surveillance, phone intercepts, or in-home probes were produced as evidence against Cindy at her 2023 retrial,' the filing claims was the result of the invasive probe.
The lawsuit named the City of Toronto, the Toronto Police Services Board, former homicide detective Frank Skubic and Toronto Fire captain Semahj Bujokas as defendants, according to the outlet.
But what followed was a nightmare that would lead Ali to be convicted of first-degree murder
Toronto Fire captain Semahj Bujokas was also accused of kicking Ali at the scene and displaying 'aggressive behavior' that shocked other first responders.
'There are no footprints, don't bulls*** me,' the firefighter said.
The investigation, dubbed 'Project Litoria,' involved intercepting communications of more than 20 people, tracking the family's movements and even referencing the infamous case of Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer convicted of killing his disabled daughter in 1993.
But the situation didn't end with Ali's arrest.
Toronto Fire captain Semahj Bujokas was also accused of kicking Ali at the scene and displaying 'aggressive behavior' that shocked other first responders
She spent four years behind bars, during which she claims to have attempted suicide twice.
It wasn't until 2021 that her conviction was quashed on appeal, leading to the retrial that finally saw her acquitted in January 2024.
The lawsuit seeks a whopping $8 million from Skubic and the Toronto Police Services Board for negligent investigation and false imprisonment.
The filing also demands an additional $2 million from the City of Toronto and Bujokas for a litany of alleged misdeeds including battery and abuse of power."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
- SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
