Pubdate: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 Calgary Herald Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Florence Loyie, CanWest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) POLICE CAN SEARCH YOUR TRASH, COURT RULES Police are entitled to search through curbside garbage for clues to possible criminal behaviour, says the province's top court. The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled RCMP did not breach a suspected drug dealer's privacy when they seized his curbside garbage for clues he was producing ecstasy in his Calgary home. Russell Stephen Patrick was convicted in June 2006 of unlawfully producing, possessing and trafficking in a controlled substance. On six separate occasions, police seized bags placed inside garbage cans at the back of Patrick's property in southeast Calgary. Investigators used items they found in the garbage, along with other evidence they had, to get a search warrant for Patrick's house on Dec. 23, 2003. Patrick has been on bail from a four-year sentence awaiting the appeal decision. 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. In her dissenting opinion, Justice Carole Conrad ruled police investigators breached Patrick's right to privacy when they reached across his property line to seize his trash and he was entitled to be acquitted on all charges. "I find the trial judge erred when he did not consider whether the appellant had a reasonable expectation of territorial privacy. "I am satisfied the appellant had a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to his home and yard, and that his rights under Section 8 of the Charter were breached when the police crossed over his property and seized his garbage," she wrote. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath