Pubdate: Fri, 15 Aug 2014
Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Abbotsford News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/BkAJKrUD
Website: http://www.abbynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1155
Author: Vikki Hopes

POT ACTIVIST TIM FELGER GRANTED ORAL HEARING BY SUPREME COURT OF CANADA

After having previously been acquitted of drug charges in Abbotsford, 
pot activist Tim Felger doesn't think he should have to undergo a new trial.

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday granted an oral hearing for 
Felger to argue why an appeal should proceed on a decision made in 
January by the B.C. Court of Appeal, which set aside his 2012 acquittal.

A date for the oral hearing has not been set.

Felger was acquitted in December 2012 of seven charges - six counts 
of trafficking in marijuana and one count of possession for the 
purpose of trafficking - that were laid in 2009 in relation to his 
former Da Kine store on Essendene Avenue in Abbotsford.

Felger's lawyer had argued that police had trespassed on Felger's 
property by ignoring signs he had posted that stated "no police 
officers allowed in the store without a warrant."

Court documents indicated that undercover officers purchased 
marijuana inside the store on five separate days and also observed 
other people buying pot. They then used that information to get a 
search warrant and bust Felger in May 2009.

At Felger's first trial, Justice Brian Joyce ruled that Felger's 
charter rights had been breached and that evidence gathered at his 
store was not admissible in court, leading to all charges being thrown out.

Crown counsel appealed the acquittal, with the three judges on the 
B.C. Court of Appeal panel in agreement that although the charter 
provides a "reasonable expectation of privacy," the sign did not 
entitle Felger to those privacy rights.

They overturned the acquittal and granted a new trial, which has been 
tentatively scheduled for next May.

The decision also resulted in a new trial for Felger's co-accused 
Natasha Healy, who had been acquitted of three charges of trafficking 
in marijuana. She, too, has been granted an oral hearing in the 
Supreme Court of Canada.

Felger also went on trial for drug charges in Mission and had most of 
those charges thrown out in court in May 2013, because the judge 
ruled that his charter rights had been breached by police.

That matter is still before the courts, with a trial proceeding on 
adapted charges to reflect the judge's ruling on the inadmissibility 
of some of the evidence.
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