Decision to lay manslaughter charge in accidental Vaughan overdose marks shift in strategy

York Regional Police officers say they’re shifting their approach to opioid death investigations amid recent news a man has been charged with manslaughter in connection with an accidental overdose in Vaughan.

“It’s more of a surgical tool than a blanket approach,” Det.-Sgt. Sean Whittaker told CityNews on Friday.

“We’re trying to hold drug dealers accountable, particularly when their actions have fatal consequences.”

Officers recently announced a 29-year-old Georgina man was arrested on Aug. 21 after a man without vital signs was found in mid-September 2024 near Bathurst Street and Ner Israel Drive in Vaughan.

Farzam Jafari Roudsari was charged with multiple offences, including manslaughter and breaching his probation. Investigators said Roudsari was on probation at the time for unrelated offences. 

The accused is set to appear at a Newmarket courthouse again on Sept. 5. The allegations haven’t been proven in court. A publication ban currently in place prevents sharing details on the charges.

A review of Public Health Ontario data on deaths due to opioid toxicity for the past 10 years showed 2023 had the highest number of deaths (83). In 2024, 53 people died of opioid toxicity.

Legal experts said the use of manslaughter charges to go after traffickers can be difficult to prove.

Lisa Dufraimont, the associate dean of Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, didn’t comment on the case, but spoke generally about the current laws.

“Proving causation can be tricky in these types of cases,” she said.

“Manslaughter is an offence that really has to do with any unlawful act that causes death.”

Dufraimont highlighted potential difficulties, such as proving exactly where the drugs came from.

“Drug trafficking is a clandestine activity. We can expect that it’s not often done in an open way and so it would often be very difficult to trace the drugs back, even if they’ve had a lethal effect … to a particular individual,” she said.

“I think laws that are more specifically targeted toward the opioid crisis and drug trafficking in general might be a better solution than using manslaughter charges, but it is available in these extreme circumstances where someone has died in these circumstances.”

Despite the legal challenges, investigators said this approach reflects a shift in how they plan to deal with drug trafficking cases moving forward. Whittaker said they want to take “more of a victim-centric approach” and “not to investigate the users (of drugs).”

“This strategy is aimed at changing the narrative. Trafficking drugs isn’t just about simple possession anymore,” he said.

“Nobody wants drug traffickers in the community. By laying these more serious charges, we hope that we can alleviate — and it won’t ever be perfect — but we can get rid of the drug traffickers from our community by holding them more accountable for their actions.”

With files from Michael Talbot