Pubdate: Fri, 10 Dec 2010
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 North Shore News
Contact:  http://www.nsnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/311
Author: Jane Seyd
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

JUDGE TOSSES BRITISH PROPERTIES GROW OP CASE

TWO men who were arrested leaving a British Properties grow op where 
police seized 450 plants have had the case against them tossed out of 
court, on the grounds West Vancouver police officers violated their rights.

Ngoc Hang Huynh and Van Hoang Huynh were arrested Feb. 3, 2006 after 
police who were watching a suspected grow op saw the pair pull up to 
the house, go inside and drive off again.

The pair were arrested shortly after, when officers pulled over their 
minivan. They were taken to the police station, fingerprinted and photographed.

That same night, police searched the house at 547 St. Andrew's Rd. 
and discovered a marijuana growing operation with 450 plants being 
cultivated in three rooms of the house. Police discovered the Hydro 
meter had been bypassed and there were no personal effects or 
furniture of any kind in the house.

The two men were later charged with both producing a controlled 
substance and possession of marijuana for the purposed of trafficking.

But a B.C. Supreme Court judge recently threw out the case against 
the pair, saying police didn't have proper grounds to arrest the two 
men when they pulled over the van.

Justice Catherine Wedge said police also violated the rights of the 
accused when they didn't act quickly to get a Vietnamese translator 
for the men, so they would know why they had been arrested and have 
the ability to speak with a lawyer. The judge added that neither of 
the men were told by police they had a right to a lawyer of their 
choice after they were arrested.

In refusing to admit the evidence seized by police, Wedge wrote the 
police showed "indifference" and "a pattern of carelessness" 
regarding the rights of the accused in the case.

According to court documents, police had set up surveillance on the 
house after receiving a report of suspicious activity by the 
homeowner. Officers who stopped by the property said they smelled 
marijuana from the road and thought they heard what sounded like fans 
coming from inside. The two men were later observed going into the 
house, turning on lights and later leaving.

Wedge, however, said that alone wasn't "reasonable and probable" 
grounds to arrest the pair. Wedge noted there was nothing connecting 
the pair to the house and they weren't seen taking anything into or 
out of the house.

At best, the officer making the decision, "had a suspicion that these 
individuals were part of a grow op," she wrote, in ruling the arrests 
were illegal.

More troubling to the judge, however, was the delay in getting a 
Vietnamese translator for the two men.

Wedge said it was apparent to officers who arrested the pair that 
both spoke Vietnamese and they were having trouble understanding 
English. Yet the officers waited two hours before contacting a 
translator for them.

"I conclude the police acted in careless disregard of the accused's 
rights," wrote Wedge. "It violated the liberty interests of the 
accused in a serious manner."
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