Pubdate: Thu, 17 Mar 2016
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Keith Fraser
Page: 10

JUDGES RULE FAKE EXECUTION OK WHEN USED UNDERCOVER

A man who confessed to burning the body of his partner in a marijuana
grow-op after killing the man in self-defence has lost an appeal of
his conviction.

Darin Andrew Randle, who was found guilty in April 2014 of one count
of offering an indignity to human remains, raised several grounds on
appeal, including an argument that he was coerced into making the
admissions after police in a 'Mr. Big' undercover operation staged the
mock kidnapping and execution of a man they said was a police informant.

He claimed that the police conduct was an abuse of process.

But in a ruling released Wednesday, a three judge panel of the B.C.
Court of Appeal found that simulated violence does not by itself
offend the public perception of acceptable police conduct, and no
violence or coercion was threatened or applied to Randle.

"Within the appellant's earshot, but out of his sight, his companions
appeared to have executed a kidnap victim who was not a gang member,"
noted Justice Peter Willcock in his reasons for judgment.

"There were no direct threats of force or violence against gang
members, and the appellant was given numerous opportunities to
withdraw from the operation without any apparent consequences."

The Mr. Big operation was launched in February 2010, two years after
Dennis Cornish, a friend of Randle and a partner in three marijuana
grow ops, had disappeared.

Shortly before his confession, Randle was told by undercover cops that
a gang member was in a remand centre awaiting trial and that a police
informant was willing to testify against the gangster.

Randle volunteered to accompany an undercover officer who said he
would be paying a visit to the informant and on May 18, 2010, watched
as undercover cops staged a kidnapping at a Quesnel hotel.

The "victim" was placed in a vehicle in which Randle was acting as a
lookout. Undercover cops pretended to assault the victim as they drove
the vehicle to a remote location.

Undercover cops then took the "victim" for a short walk to a spot
unseen and fired two rounds from a gun.

Nine days later, Randle confessed to Mr. Big that he and Cornish had a
dispute over a grow op at a house in 112 Mile House. When Randle
started punching him and appeared to be getting the upper hand,
Cornish pulled out a gun. The two men struggled over the firearm and
the gun went off, killing Cornish.

Randle told Mr. Big that he burned the body in the backyard of his
house and drove to Lac La Hache, where he put the ashes in a dumpster.

In addition to his arguments about the Mr. Big operation, Randle
claimed that the trial judge had erred by misunderstanding other
evidence at the trial, but Willcock also rejected those grounds of
appeal and upheld the conviction.

Chief Justice Robert Bauman and Justice Mary Saunders agreed with
Willcock's ruling.
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