Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jul 2012
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Andrew Seymour
Page: C3

SEXY TEXTS NOT ENTRAPMENT IN DRUG STING, JUDGE RULES

Officer's conduct within limits

An undercover Ottawa police officer who sent a series of racy texts to
a drug dealer did not entrap him, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith found that the texts Det.
Joanne Pilotte sent to Andrew Abboud came "close to the line," but
didn't violate Abboud's rights.

"The police conduct in this case involved an officer using sexual
language to establish and maintain conduct and trust with the vendor
of cocaine," Smith said. "There was no coercion or threats, and no
promise of sexual favours, and I find that the police conduct did not
undermine any constitutional values."

Abboud, 29, admitted he sold Pilotte 1.5 grams of cocaine during a
meeting in a beer-store parking lot in March 2009.

The two would meet two more times, and both times Abboud sold her
similarly small amounts. Police later searched Abboud's residence and
found more than a kilogram of marijuana, 18 grams of cocaine and 23
grams of crack.

Abboud's lawyer, Mark Ertel, suggested Pilotte's texts deliberately
led Abboud to believe she would have sex with him if he sold her
drugs: a crime he wouldn't normally have committed.

Smith said he found it unlikely the average person would "go out and
purchase $160 worth of cocaine to resell to an unknown woman seeking
to purchase the drug, for the possibility that he might see a woman
with 'great tits.' "

Smith said Abboud never asked to see the officer's breasts or for a
sexual encounter when he met her, instead trying to arrange sexual
liaisons over text message after the drug deals had been completed.

The officer always deflected his advances, Smith found.

"If seeing her breasts was an inducement for selling the cocaine, then
I would have expected an average person to have raised the subject
before or at the time the cocaine was sold," Smith said.

Police officers are given considerable leeway when investigating
drugs, and Pilotte's conduct wasn't beyond the acceptable limits,
Smith concluded. Pilotte testified she was portraying a "party girl"
and sent the "flirtatious" messages to build a rapport with Abboud.

A sentencing hearing for Abboud has been scheduled for Sept. 14.
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