A man has been acquitted after evidence that he had checked in a suitcase containing a large quantity of drugs at Vancouver International Airport was thrown out of court. David Edward Herman checked in two pieces of luggage when he arrived at the airport for a flight to Toronto on March 17, 2013. One of the suitcases passed through security without any incident and was loaded onto the plane but screening of the second suitcase indicated the possible existence of explosives. [continues 220 words]
A man has been acquitted after evidence that he had checked in a suitcase containing a large quantity of drugs at Vancouver International Airport was thrown out of court. David Edward Herman checked in two pieces of luggage when he arrived at the airport for a flight to Toronto on March 17, 2013. One of the suitcases passed through security without incident and was loaded onto the plane, but a screening of the second suggested it might contain explosives. When the suitcase was examined by security officers, they discovered drugs later determined to be marijuana and hashish. [continues 429 words]
A Vancouver Island man whose marijuana grow-op was busted has had trafficking charges stayed because his case took too long to get to trial, the latest in a series of such cases in B.C. Nicholas Christian Boehme, 51, was arrested on May 25, 2012 after police searched his home in Youbou and his office in Victoria. The residence was the site of two valid licenses to grow medical marijuana issued by Health Canada, one of them issued to Boehme to grow 205 plants and store 9,225 grams of dried marijuana. [continues 448 words]
The B.C. Court of Appeal has overturned an extradition order for three men accused in a conspiracy to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of marijuana across the U.S. border in hollowed-out logs. In April 2015, Shane Donald Fraser, Daniel James Joinson and Todd Ian Ferguson were ordered committed for extradition in connection with the conspiracy, in which at least nine shipments of logs were moved from the Okanagan to California in 2006. Law enforcement officials in Ontario, Calif. seized 10 logs, each around 7.5 metres long, that were hollowed out. A total of 333.5 kilograms of high-grade pot was seized. [continues 175 words]
The B.C. Supreme Court says a marijuana shop in Delta is in violation of local bylaws and has ordered it be shut down. In her ruling granting the Corporation of Delta a permanent injunction against the WeeMedical Dispensary Society, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick found the store lacked a business licence and contravened zoning bylaws. The judge noted although the federal government has indicated it intends to bring in new marijuana laws, the operation of a medical marijuana retail dispensary as run by WeeMedical is currently not allowed under criminal law. [continues 421 words]
The B.C. Supreme Court says that a marijuana shop in Delta is in violation of local bylaws and has ordered it shut down. In her ruling granting the Corporation of Delta a permanent injunction against the WeeMedical Dispensary Society, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick found that the store lacked a business licence and contravened zoning bylaws. The judge noted that although the federal government has indicated that it intends to bring in new marijuana laws, the operation of a medical marijuana retail dispensary as run by WeeMedical is currently not allowed under the criminal law. "I have no idea where the federal government is in that process," said the judge. "It appears to be moving in that direction, but when it might get to that point is anyone's guess. Further, it is as yet unknown what any new legal regime will look like." [continues 174 words]
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. [continues 405 words]
POT SHOP: City seeks declaration that Don Briere's Weeds Glass and Gifts is in breach of bylaws Abbotsford is taking marijuana dispensary chain owner Don Briere to court in a bid to shut down one of his stores. City officials say that in May, Briere, sole director and officer of Weeds Glass and Gifts Ltd., applied for a business licence for a dispensary on Clearbrook Road, but was denied permission. A city employee who reviewed the application noted that "medical marijuana dispensaries are absolutely not permitted and care must be taken not to issue this licence under any condition if this is what they are doing," according to a petition filed by the city in B.C. Supreme Court. [continues 199 words]
A judge has torn a strip off B.C. court services officials for failing to provide a Cambodian interpreter to an accused in a serious drug case. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Douglas Thompson was so concerned about the Charter of Rights violation he has stayed charges against Rong Kong Thim. The judge said it was the responsibility of the Attorney-General of B.C. to provide sufficient resources to allow the province's courts to carry out its constitutional functions. [continues 233 words]
A Surrey couple is claiming their rights were violated when police searched their home for a marijuana grow-op and found $129,000 in a safe in their child's bedroom. B.C.'s director of civil forfeiture wants to retain the money seized by RCMP when they executed a search warrant on June 11, 2009, at the home of David and Jennifer Johnson on 86 A Avenue. The director also wants $2,600 in U.S. currency and $925 in Canadian currency found in Jennifer Johnson's purse. [continues 417 words]
A former mayoral candidate in the city of North Vancouver is taking the RCMP to court in a bid to expunge police files that he says jeopardize the volunteer work of his teenage daughter. Kerry Morris, 57, says that when police did a criminal record check on his daughter for her volunteer work at a B.C. summer camp for youth, it produced two hits for minor incidents. The first incident happened two years ago when the girl was 16 and on a school field trip and resulted in her receiving a bylaw violation ticket and a fine for possession of a cannabis pipe, he says. [continues 548 words]
Lawyers for a Coquitlam man argued Wednesday that a case in which 457 homeowners were subjected to warrantless searches as part of a city program to crack down on marijuana grow-ops should be certified as a class-action lawsuit. In March 2008, Nicola Monaco's home in the 300-block Seaforth Crescent had its power shut off and his tenant was forced to move out after the premises was inspected without a search warrant by a city team that included uniformed RCMP officers. [continues 154 words]
An order by the federal justice department that the alleged B.C. negotiator for a major cross-border drug-trafficking organization surrender himself for extradition has been set aside by the B.C. Court of Appeal. In a ruling released Wednesday, B.C.'s highest court said the justice minister acted "unreasonably" and in a procedurally "unfair" way in considering the "grave" medical condition of James Gregory Cameron. In her reasons for judgment, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Nicole Garson noted that Cameron was given notice on Aug. 23, 2013 that the minister would be relying on United States prison medical guidelines to decide on whether to order him to surrender himself for extradition. [continues 309 words]
Court: Federal government faces civil suit as three B.C. men claim rights, quality of life being violated Three B.C. men who have medicinal marijuana licences say the federal government has violated their rights by changing the laws allowing them to possess and grow pot. Kevin Garber, a Langley resident, says he needs marijuana to treat his severe epilepsy and arthritis and has held a licence to grow and possess pot since 2009. In a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, he says changes to the laws that will require him to purchase his pot from a licensed company will have a harmful effect on him. [continues 389 words]
Judge says sign barring police did not protect pair accused of selling marijuana from store A new trial has been ordered for the owner and an employee of an Abbotsford store that sold marijuana paraphernalia. In December 2012, Timothy Lee Felger, the owner of the DaKine store in downtown Abbotsford, was acquitted of trafficking in marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking. Natasha Kaye Healy, a worker in the store, was found not guilty of trafficking in marijuana. The acquittals came after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brian Joyce found that the rights of Felger and Healy were violated by the police. [continues 260 words]
Greeks gang leader Peter Manolakos on Thursday received a sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years for the murder of a rival drug dealer. Manolakos, 44, also received a sentence of 15 years in prison for the manslaughter of a former drug runner for the Vernon gang. The sentences imposed on Manolakos by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bill Smart are to be concurrent. The judge also imposed a 17-year jail term on gang associate Douglas Brownell, 42, for two counts of manslaughter, but reduced the sentence to five years after giving him credit for pre-sentence custody. [continues 286 words]
GREEKS: New details emerge about drug ring involved in B.C.'s longest criminal jury trial, cops say They were convicted in three drugrelated slayings, but police suspect they were also involved in four other murders. In November, five members or associates of the Greeks gang in Vernon were found guilty of three grisly deaths following the longest criminal jury trial in B.C. history. But what the jury didn't hear was the full extent of their crimes, police say. [continues 882 words]
Cop Who Searched Suspect at Gas Bar Shouldn't Be Cleared Police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe is seeking to quash a decision by a retired judge to clear an Abbotsford cop of wrongdoing in the strip search of a female suspect in a gas station washroom. In December, retired Provincial Court judge William Diebolt concluded Const. Karen Burridge was acting in good faith in her strip search of Jocelyn Gowland. The decision related to an incident in August 2009 when Burridge and another officer were moving a prisoner from hospital to police cells. [continues 239 words]
Warrant Itself Was Valid, but Ruling Found Cops Made an Improper Entry into Home VANCOUVER -- The case against a man charged after 500 marijuana plants were found in a B.C. home has been dismissed after a judge ruled that RCMP violated the accused's rights. In May 2009, Van Dang Truong was charged with production of marijuana and possession of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking. RCMP executed a search warrant on a two-storey house with an attached garage in Gibsons, B.C., and found more than 500 marijuana plants along with fans, lights and other equipment common to grow-ops. [continues 260 words]
The case against a man charged after 500 marijuana plants were found in a Gibsons home has been dismissed after a judge ruled that RCMP violated the accused's rights. In May 2009 Van Dang Truong was charged with production of marijuana and possession of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking. RCMP executed a search warrant on a two-storey house and found more than 500 marijuana plants along with fans, lights and other equipment common to grow-ops. Truong was arrested on the upper floor of the home. [continues 225 words]
