TORONTO

Mayor Rob Ford’s lawyer agrees the headlines should be about somebody resigning.

“But I was thinking the police chief resigning is what should be the headline,” Dennis Morris said Thursday night. “The mayor has been convicted in the public by the police chief.”

In his more than 40 years of being a defence lawyer, Morris said, he never saw a more troubling prejudicial attack against someone who faces no charges than the one perpetrated by Blair.

Blair, of course, was speaking about the video which, according to media accounts, purportedly shows Ford smoking crack cocaine.

Blair told reporters, “I think it’s safe to say the mayor does appear in that video” and that “as a citizen of Toronto I’m disappointed” and that “this is a traumatic issue for the citizens of this city and for the reputation of this city and that concerns me.”

Morris said he couldn’t believe his ears.

“I was taken aback,” said Morris. “It was over the top. That is not his job.”

Chief Blair did not return an e-mail to respond.

Ford told reporters he has “no reason to resign.” He then left City Hall to take his kids trick or treating — something he did in his Maple Leafs sweater.

There is no middle ground on Ford, but he is a man, a husband and father. There is no question his behaviour is sometimes troubling but he also possesses a caring side.

He is not above the law, but certainly should not be judged without a proper process, either.

In a short conversation, his comment to me on the day’s events was “this is nuts.”

Morris agrees.

The lawyer said his client has not been charged or afforded a fair opportunity to defend his name. He also wonders what the cost of the “surveillance, airplane and hidden cameras” will be to “establish that the mayor and Lisi were friends.”

In this case, so many seem prepared to suspend basic rights in favour of politics, power or partisanship. People don’t have to like Ford and are entitled to feel he should resign. Others can feel even with his baggage he is better than the alternative.

But whatever side you are on, in Canada no person should be subject to untested accusations. The rules of the presumption of innocence and the concept of due process must be for everybody.

Blair should know that. If the chief’s comments were not unprecedented, they certainly were not standard procedure.

Was it necessary the chief have this news conference?

Was the message really for Ford to understand it’s best for him to step down now, before the ongoing investigation does end up with a criminal charge?

Either way, Morris said for the chief of police to speak about a non-accused in this way is “inappropriate” and in essence is helping push a political agenda of people “who want Rob out of the mayor’s chair at the earliest possible date.”

He said it was a “dirty” way to bring out evidence “because when the chief of police offers a suggestion that somebody is smoking crack cocaine, people obviously make the leap that it must be so.”

Morris said it “messes with public opinion” and he worries Ford has been “found guilty” with no tested evidence and with no formal charges.

“What happened there was wrong,” he said. “It was shocking.”

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The lawyer representing Mayor Rob Ford is challenging Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair to release the video which has plunged his client into controversy.

“That would be the best thing for the mayor,” Dennis Morris says. “Our position has always been we have not seen, or know of, a video of the mayor smoking crack cocaine and that is still our position.”

Using such a video in the extortion case against Ford’s friend, Alexander “Sandro” Lisi is one thing. However, telling a packed news conference that “the mayor does appear in the video” makes it very hard for his client “to get a fair chance to defend himself,” says Morris.

Ford’s counsel says in light of Blair’s comments, he wants police to “show the video publicly.”

Morris adds “now it will be tied up in the Lisi case for a year or two” and whether or not it is ruled admissible, the damage is done at a time when his client is talking of running for a second term in next October’s election.

“This has happened with just a few sentences,” he says. “The police have a lot of power and this makes it look like there is no doubt.”

To be fair, Morris says, Blair should make the video available.

“Only a few people have seen it, including the chief of police it seems,” says Morris. “Release it and let the public see it.”