A key Liberal facing criminal charges in the gas plants scandal has lost a bid to have an OPP detective censured for neglect of duty in a probe over the alleged destruction of government documents.

Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ruled Det.-Const. Andre Duval acted properly in not disclosing why Laura Miller — once deputy chief of staff to ex-premier Dalton McGuinty — refused to provide a statement to police.

“He (Duval) considered it would have been ‘unfair’ to Ms. Miller to provide the additional information that she wanted immunity in exchange for her co-operation with police,” a panel of three judges ruled in an eight-page decision Oct. 20.

“He could ‘imagine the firestorm’ that would have been created if he had provided that information and . . . there could have been ‘a lot more damage’ to her if he had done so.”

Miller is now based in Vancouver, serving as executive director of the governing British Columbia Liberals as the party prepares for a provincial election next spring.

Toronto lawyer Brian Shiller, who initially represented Miller, disputed the contention she was seeking immunity from prosecution in 2014 as the OPP investigation proceeded.

“My client never asked for protection against charges in exchange for an interview. The record is crystal clear on that,” he told the Star in an emailed statement Friday.

The lawyer now representing Miller said he is reviewing the Superior Court ruling by justices Anne Molloy, Ian Nordheimer and Carolyn Horkins.

“She wanted to help the police, because she had done nothing wrong,” Scott Hutchison, from the Toronto firm Henein-Hutchison, said of Miller.

“But she also simply wanted what every other person interviewed by the police would want — an acknowledgement that her words wouldn’t be twisted and used against her.”

The court ruling followed a complaint by Miller to a watchdog agency — the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, headed by Gerry McNeilly — about the conduct of Duval and a colleague in regard to a search warrant for computer hard drives and testimony to a legislative committee two years ago.

Miller alleged that Duval and Det.-Sgt. Brian Mason “deliberately and falsely” suggested she had refused to assist the OPP after advising police she would give a statement “provided that it was agreed that nothing I said would be used against me in any proceeding,” according to the court ruling obtained by the Star.

She further alleged the OPP was using its superior power to override her right not to give a statement.

That was before Miller and former chief of staff David Livingston were charged in December 2015 with breach of trust and mischief in relation to data and misuse of a computer system following the McGuinty government’s controversial cancellation of two gas-fired power plants before the 2011 election.

Both Miller and Livingston deny any wrongdoing in the case, which goes to trial next Sept. 11. McGuinty was never a suspect and faces no charges.

Following Miller’s complaint, the police review office ordered OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes to hold a misconduct hearing for Duval under the Police Services Act on neglect of duty, but not on Miller’s allegations of discreditable conduct against Duval and Mason.

Hawkes challenged that order, resulting in this month’s court decision that McNeilly “acted outside his jurisdiction in ordering a hearing on this allegation.”

“The failure of an officer to include in an ITO (information to obtain a search warrant) information about a suspect that was both irrelevant and potentially incriminating is the opposite of misconduct,” a panel of three judges ruled.

McNeilly’s office said in a statement Friday that he “has not reached a final decision as to whether he will appeal the decision.”

On behalf of the police, Hawkes said the court decision in his favour “is well written and speaks for itself.”

“The OPP has a very positive working relationship with Mr. McNeilly and the Office of the Independent Police Review Director. We look forward to continuing that relationship,” Hawkes added in a statement.

After she was charged in late 2015, Miller issued a news release saying her complaint to McNeilly’s office “created a clear bias by the OPP against me. Officers involved in a substantiated complaint should not have been allowed to continue investigating.”

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“Every Canadian expects and deserves impartiality and fairness in police charging decisions. I do not believe that to be the case here,” she added at the time.

Seeking help to fund her defence, Miller started a FundRazr crowdfunding campaign online. It has now raised $77,711 toward a $100,000 target, with individual contributions as high as $12,500.

Some donors have said the Ontario Liberal party should be covering her expenses, and lament on the FundRazr page that a political staffer finds herself in a challenging situation: on the hook for legal bills.

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