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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, May 2, 2000 - § Officers' hearing in second week Court hears testimony about events leadin By Rik Davie Special to the Star The pre-trial hearing for three police officers charged in a fatal shooting has entered its second week. The province's Special Investigation Unit (SIU) laid a second degree mur- der charge against York Regional Police officer Randy Martin in connec- tion with the 1998 death of 44-year-old Tony Romagnuolo, of Sunderland. York Region Const. Mike Hoskins has been charged with careless use of a firearm and assault with a weapon, and Durham Regional Const. Al Robins has been charged with aggravated assault and assault caus- ing bodily harm in the wounding of Rocco Romagnuolo, then 17. The shootings occurred on the evening of Dec. 28, 1998 after two York Region Constables, accompanied by two Durham Regional officers, traveled to the Romagnuolo home on the 17th Side Road near Sunderland to investigate allegations that Lorenzo Romagnuolo had threat- ened a police officer. An altercation alleged to have taken place left Const. Martin shot in the face, Tony Romagnuolo fatally wounded by at least three shots in the abdomen, and Rocco Rocco (left) and Lorenzo Romagnuolo enter the Oshawa courthouse last week, flanked by friends and family. wounded in the abdomen by a single shot. Lorenzo, along with mother Linda Romagnuolo and youngest brother Michael, then 15 were taken into police custody. Linda and Michael Romagnuolo were later released without charges. The emotionally charged case is being heard under extremely tight security in Oshawa, with visitors to the court going through a metal detector. The Romagnuolo family are excluded from the court proceedings while each takes his or her turn on the witness stand. Family members are expected to be at the court house as the pre- trial proceeds. Four weeks have been set aside for the pretrial, during which Crown Attorney representatives John Corelli and lan Bulmer will lay out their case before Judge R.]. Morgan. Defense lawyers Harry Black (counsel for Al Robins), David Humphery (for Randy Martin) and Scott Fenton (Mike Hoskins), will cross exam- ine witnesses; at the end YOUNG DRIVER'S OF CANADA of the proceedings a deci- sion on how and if the pro- ceedings should continue through the courts will be made. A media ban prevents testimony from being reported. The first week of trial included forensics evidence from the SIU's forensics officer Keith Wood, Linda Romagnuolo and Lorenzo Romagnuolo. Anida Doherty Regional Advertising Manager community. 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Real Estate Law for Over 25 Years As readers of my earlier columns will know, I am a strong believer in the benefits of Title Insurance. 1 have written about how this relatively recent U.S. import is changing what lawyers do in closing real estate purchases as well as mortgage transactions. One area of substantial change and considerable ongoing debate is the role of the survey. Until the recent explosion in the use of Tide Insurance most knowledgeable buyers would bargain with the vendor to have the vendor provide a survey of the property. Purchasers needed an up to date survey to satisfy a mortgage lender and to allow their lawyer to give an unqualified title opinion. Before Title Insurance I would tell my purchaser clients to include in the offer fairly detailed language that would ensure that the vendor would provide a new survey if there was no existing up to date survey. I would also tell real estate agents to be very careful in drafting the clause in the purchase agreement relating to surveys to be sure that arguments wouldn't arise between vendor and purchaser about whether or not the vendor was obligated to get a new survey or merely produce whatever survey, if any, was in the vendor's possession. Today the real question is; does, or should purchasers even care about an up to date survey? The short answer is probably, no! With Title Insurance the insurer assumes the risk of survey-related problems and insures over such problems without requiring the lawyer to do any survey related investigations. Indeed one of the anomalies of Title Insurance is that the insurer will insure over unknown problems but will limit coverage for some types of known problems. If, for instance, a house was built over the lot line and encroached onto the neighbor's property, a fairly serious problem, Title Insurance would cover this if it hadn't been discovered. If however the purchasers and their lawyer have a survey showing the encroachment then the lawyer will have to tell the Title Insurance company, and knowing of the problem the insurer will usually give only reduced coverage. Such reduced coverage would usually be to fully protect the lender but only to protect the purchasers against forced removal of the encroachment. The insurer would not give the usual marketability. coverage to the purchasers. More on this in my next column. 226 Queen Street, Port Perry, Ont. LIL 1BY ©: (905) 985-8465 Fax: 985-3758 BE ad hi bs BE TT I SL ERE ERS RA a AE Siena A RA AR Pe SUA Ln SP hh Abate ARC BN We A