Pubdate: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Author: Florence Loyie, The Edmonton Journal Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) POLICE HAVE RIGHT TO HUNT THROUGH TRASH, COURT RULES EDMONTON - Police are entitled to search through curbside garbage for clues of criminal behaviour, Alberta's top court says. The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled this week RCMP did not breach a suspected drug dealer's privacy when they seized his curbside garbage for clues that he was producing ecstasy in his Calgary home. Russell Stephen Patrick was convicted in June 2006 of unlawfully producing, possessing and trafficking a controlled substance. On six separate occasions, police seized garbage bags placed inside garbage cans at the back of Patrick's property in southeast Calgary. Investigators used items they had found in the garbage, along with other evidence, to obtain a search warrant for Patrick's house on Dec. 23, 2003. Patrick has been on bail during the appeal of his four-year sentence. In their majority ruling, Justice Keith Ritter and Justice Jack Watson said Patrick abandoned the items once he placed them in an open receptacle for pickup and therefore had no right to expect they would remain secure. "Anyone living in a major metropolitan area knows once garbage is left for pickup it may be subject to disturbance by bottle collectors and others looking for discarded treasures, as well as birds, dogs and vermin. Anyone placing garbage in an open receptacle enjoys virtually no control over it," Ritter said. The expectation of privacy with respect to garbage is less than one would expect for items left, but not abandoned, in a yard, he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath