These two words, uttered by Justice I.W. Andre on Monday, brought a sudden and unexpected end to the trial of three members of the Halton Regional Police Tactical and Rescue Unit charged with assaulting a 79-year-old Oakville man.

The decision was prompted when Assistant Crown Attorney Anthony Leitch rose at the end of the day's testimony and stated that a reasonable prospect for conviction in this case no longer existed.

Justice Andre agreed.

The lead up to this moment dates back to Nov. 25, 2006 when members of the tactical unit, along with other officers, were called to a condominium on Marine Drive.

The reports they received stated that an elderly man with a history of Parkinson's disease was armed with two large butcher knives and was acting strangely.

Another officer who was present, but not charged, testified that upon entering the apartment he encountered Gerry Morgan who was in the kitchen swinging the knives back and forth in a trance-like state.

The tactical team confronted Morgan and ordered him to put the knives down.

When Morgan did not respond he was shot with a rubber bullet, which penetrated his upper arm to the bone. He was hit with a Taser seconds later when he still refused to put down one of the knives.

After the incident, Morgan was taken to Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) where he was treated for his arm injury and released.

Shortly thereafter, Morgan was readmitted to hospital where he remained until his death May 4, 2007.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a civilian agency which investigates police actions that result in injury or death, found no evidence to link Morgan's death to the Nov. 25 incident. However, it concluded that grounds did exist to charge tactical team members Joe Davis, Richard Dodds and Matthew Kohler with a number of assault-related offences.

On Monday that decision was undone.

The day that preceded the dismissal saw testimony from Kohler, the tactical team leader who defended the actions he ordered as being completely necessary given the situation.

"I thought there was a high potential for serious bodily harm or death at that time," said Kohler.

"He was a danger to himself and others."

Kohler testified that a number of considerations went through his mind in determining his course of action that day.

He was concerned that Morgan could have severely cut himself while swinging the knives around. He was also concerned Morgan could have tripped and fallen on the knives, thereby stabbing himself. He feared Morgan may have accessed the apartment's sixth floor balcony and either fallen or jumped to his death.

For all these reasons Kohler said the tactical team had to enter the apartment and make an immediate apprehension under the Mental Health Act.

Kohler also said that once the tactical team had confronted Morgan in the apartment they were left with few options.

"I didn't want to have to shoot Mr. Morgan and was doing everything in my power to prevent that," said Kohler, who noted that he drew an imaginary line on the kitchen floor where deadly force would have been used if Morgan crossed it.

Kohler noted that pepper spray was not used as the emotionally disturbed are sometimes not affected by such tactics.

"There's a mind body disconnect," said Kohler.

He also noted that a shield takedown, in which an officer knocks the person off their feet with a ballistic shield and then pins them to the ground, would not have been appropriate given Morgan's age and the risk of broken bones.

In the end, Kohler said he decided to employ Anti Riot Weapon Enfield (ARWEN) because it would allow the officers to maintain a safe distance from Morgan's knives and, while the impact is great, it usually only leaves a large circular bruise.

The rubber bullet from the ARWEN, fired by Dodds, succeeded in forcing Morgan to drop one of the knives, however, he still had a firm grip on the second.

Kohler noted the expression on Morgan's face did not change after being hit, and as he still possessed a weapon he continued to be a danger to himself and the officers.

As Morgan was still not responding to commands to drop the knife, Kohler called on Davis to hit Morgan with the Taser.

When asked if he would do anything differently if presented with the situation again, Kohler said his actions would have been the same.

"Me and my team successfully resolved a situation that could have turned tragic," he said.

"I believe we saved Mr. Morgan's life that night."

An intense cross-examination by Leitch followed, in which Kohler was questioned about why he did not try to get more information about Morgan and the medication he was taking before confronting him.

Kohler said whatever information he received would not have changed the fact that Morgan was acting dangerously and needed to be apprehended.

Leitch also grilled Kohler on exactly what Morgan was doing with the knives when Kohler confronted him.

Another officer had previously testified Morgan was swinging them back and forth while Kohler testified that Morgan was in an aggressive stance holding the knives in a sword-like position.

Kohler noted the other officer had caught sight of Morgan before he had, so Morgan's behaviour could have changed.

He also pointed out that Morgan would have been apprehended regardless of whether he was swinging the knives or just standing there with them.

Despite an intense effort, Leitch was unable to shake Kohler's belief that something else could have been done that night.

The Crown was hit with another setback earlier in the morning when Lino Couto, who had appeared as an expert witness for the Crown in police use of force tactics, again took the witness stand and testified that because of Morgan's behaviour the officers reasonably believed he was a danger to himself and, as such, the use of weapons such as the Taser and ARWEN were justified.

This flew in the face of testimony Couto had previously given in which he stated the officers actions were inappropriate given that Morgan made no move to attack them.

With the recanting of his expert witness, combined with Kohler's unwavering testimony, Leitch threw in the towel.

"I wasn't going to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they used more force than was necessary in all circumstances. The judge more or less agreed with me and he dismissed the charges," said Leitch.

"We were going to hear from some further experts (for the defence), but the outcome would have been the same whether I continued or not."

The decision brought great joy to some members of the courtroom, but also sadness with Morgan's family quickly leaving, some with tears in their eyes.

Family members declined to comment on the trial's outcome.

For legal reasons, the three officers also decided not to speak about the trial. Their attorneys spoke on their behalf.

"To my mind, this is long overdue (the verdict), but I appreciate them doing it," said Leo Kinahan, who represented Davis.

"It's nice that it's over and done with, but in my opinion the charges should never have been filed in the first place and I don't think it should have gone 22 months to get this finished up."

Kinahan also fears what will happen the next time tactical officers find themselves in a similar situation.

"An officer might hesitate and somebody will end up killing themselves or killing someone else or killing an officer," he said.

"It can have a chilling affect."

Paul O'Marra, who represented Dodds, also weighed in on the decision.

"The stress and strain of 21 months facing a charge can't really be measured," he said.

"These officers are highly trained, highly skilled and, in our view, they conducted themselves appropriately that night. At the end of the day, justice was done."

Halton Police Chief Gary Crowell expressed relief that the trial is now over, but also pointed out that this is not something the department is celebrating.

"Our sympathies go out to the family of Mr. Morgan. They did suffer a loss and our thoughts are still with them," he said.

"I know this was a trying time for them as well."

Crowell said the three officers will now face a mandatory review by the Halton Regional Police Service to determine if their actions were in keeping with the organization's policies.

If the review is favourable, the officers will be assigned back to their tactical unit.