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Dane's Case — Possession crystal Meth — Charge withdrawn Client: Dane P., Accused Background: Dane's drug of choice was crystal meth. After making a purchase, he was followed by someone. He quickened his pace but to no avail. That "someone" was a police officer. The police searched Dane, seized his meth, and tried to play "20 questions" with him. The police were after Dane's supplier. Dane gave them nothing. It was a bummer day for Dane: he lost his money and his drugs. In exchange, he received an Appearance Notice. The notice demanded that he attend for his prints and photographs under the Identification of Criminals Act and compelled him to attend Court. Goals: In Dane's words, the police had treated him "like shit." He wanted to beat the charge. Our goal was to convince the Crown to withdraw the charge or to seek Dane's acquittal at trial. Strategies: The key issue was the grounds for the initial detention and search. If Dane's arrest was illegal, then so was the search. From what Dane had told me, Dane's arrest was without reasonable and probable grounds (it's the same for search warrants: see Nathan's case). When I reviewed the disclosure from the Crown, it was clear that the police had been on a fishing expedition: they had guessed that Dane had recently purchased drugs, searched him and found drugs, and then arrested him. In other words, they had no proper grounds to arrest Dane, making the search illegal. Results: I met with the Crown for a pre-trial meeting. The Crown readily agreed with my position. The charge was withdrawn at our next Court appearance. |
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