Toronto police officers accused of gang sexual assault opt for judge-only trial

In a last minute move by the defence, three Toronto Police officers accused of a gang sexual assault on a colleague will be tried by judge alone.

Leslie Nyznik, Sameer Kara and Joshua Cabero, all officers at 51 Division, are accused of having non-consensual sex with a female parking enforcement officer at a downtown Toronto hotel in 2015.

After a more than a year of pre-trial hearings, a jury trial was set to begin this week.

In fact, the court spent much ofMondaymorning hearing arguments about what questions prospective jurors would be asked during jury selection, which was scheduled forWednesday.

But when the court returned from a lunch break, the Crown informed Justice Anne Molloy thatthe defence is electing to be tried by judge alone.

No reasons were given for the change, which every accused has the right to make.

The trial is now set to beginnext Monday.