“amine, cannabis,

oa essential:

A8 - The Terrace Standard,,Wednesday, March 23, 2005

_ Drug charges tossed
after judge concludes
police made mistakes

By MARGARET SPEIRS |
FIFTEEN DRUG and fire-
-arms ‘charges laid against

a local man have been dis-
» missed because police made

mistakes ‘in: obtaining and
using search warrants.
‘ Those mistakes resulted

in seizures being. made ille-~

‘gally, preventing what was
found by RCMP to be used
‘as evidence, Mr. Justice’
Douglas Halfyard ruled.

_ - David Harry Edwardsen
was’ found not guilty here
March 16 of one charge of

0

“ ‘possession for the purpose

of trafficking -cocaine, one

charge of possession for the
purpose of trafficking can-
*nabis, 12 charges of posses-
sion of controlled substances

such as .LSD, methamphet-
‘codeine,
diazepam and ‘lorazepam

. and one charge of possess- ©
ing a Ruger 22 caliber hand-
gun without a licence. |.‘

“The evidence seized is
essential in - prosecution,”
said Mr. Justice Halfyard,

-' who concluded ' that illegal-
_” ly obtained evidence admit-
~. ted to court can damage the

‘legal system. -

“With regard to all, my
opinion is. that.. disrepute.
caused by admitting evi-

. dence is greater than exclud-.

ing it,” Halfyard said..
. “Tam, persuaded that ad-
mission would bring the jus-

» , tice system into disrepute.

“Accordingly, the evi-

. ° dence is discluded. Charges —
~. should be ‘dismissed - then.
Mr.:Edwardsen is found not ©
“p.m. to 9 p.m. that evening. -
But ‘police didn’t finish‘their,
“search until: 10:20 p.m. and

guilty on all counts and is

vd free to leave.” he

~ On Jan 21, 2003, Terrace
: ‘RCMP » searched: Edward-
'sen’s River Drive residence,

a vehicle and a shop during

- | the’ execution of two search

warrants. °.. -
They found illegal drugs,

a handgun and items used in -

trafficking.
Cst.. Michael Hacker ap-

| plied for the first search war-

‘ rant, court heard:-
“The. warrant | authorized

a police search for cocaine,

“Edwardsen’s home,
heard. Nine Emergency Re-:

‘money and cocaine-related
,paraphernalia from 6 a.m. to
.6 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2003. Due

to a police oversight, it did —
‘not include vehicles or out

buildings, Halfyard said. .

At 6:30. am.,; police
threw two flash grenades in
_court

sponse Team (ERT) mem-
bers burst in and arrested

Edwardsen, who was in
bed. -
’ Cst. Jack Hundial ar-

rested Edwardsen, and upon
searching him, found two
half-gram' decks of cocaine
and marijuana, court heard.

- Police seized 180 grams

of cocaine from inside a

small padlocked safe under
the master bed, 590 grams
of marijuana from a locked
fridge in the shop, .small
“quantities of other drugs
found inside. a padlocked

‘safe, a few thousand ‘dol-

lars in cash and a 22 caliber

: handgun between Edward-

sen’s boxspring and mat-
tress, Halfyard said.

After at least. one ERT |
‘member ‘cleared the shop, —

but hadn’t searched it, police

realized the building wasn’t |

on Edwardsen’s lot but on
adjacent property.

Constable Hacker applied

for a second search warrant,
based on his belief that co-
caine would be found in

the shop and evidence from _

an informant’s tip made on.

Sept. 17, 2002, court heard.
The second warrant au-

‘thorized a search from 7: 30

that lead to the nullification

"Of the warrant:
“I conclude the first search -

warrant is invalid,” Halfyard °

said, adding that police had ©

no lawful grounds to obtain
a second search wairant.
“Cst. Hacker testified he.

believed the police could —
search beyond the search

warrant times as long as they
entered during the times of
the search warrant. -

erson’s responsible ii this, or any’ other crime : |
= Crime Stoppers would. like to hear from j you. :

. Crimestoppers offers a cash reward of up to $2,000.00 for information :
leading to the arrest and charges being laid against this or any other
:{ unsolved Crime, If you have any information call CRIME STOPPERS at 635-. | -
TIPS, that’s 635-8477. Callers will not be required to reveal their identity or |.

‘7 testify in court. Crimestoppers does not subscribe to call display.

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“T find it (his belief) un- -

reasonable,” Halfyard said.

Edwardsen’s house also —

sustained damage to the
front. door, living room car-

"pet, bed, kitchen contents

and tiles during the police’s
violent entry, court heard.

Household contents were
movéd and the house was in’

shambles when police left.
It is also believed some-
one walked on the roof of

a parked Corvette, cracking

the fiberglass fender while

in the shop — it did not be-

long to Edwardsen.
Damage caused by po-

‘lice was unnecessary and -
could’ve been avoided, Hal-
fyard said.

He said he accepted that

Hacker believed in the truth
-of the facts.

Police relied on infor-

‘ mants of unknown reliabili-

ty and the tip was not current

‘and therefore insufficient to’
justify the search, he said. |,

‘Terrace Minor Lacrosse & Hawkair .

BRING YOU...
PLAYER |
s DEVELOPMENT CAMP

Terrace May 7 & 8 at the Terrace Arena

Free for paid up members of Terrace
Minor Lacrosse. This camp will be run
by former National team members
Kerry Sushecki of the Minnesota Swarm.

Coaches Clinic in Kitimat April 2nd & 3rd

Registration April 8th |
Skeena Mall Community Ri Room
. p.m.

Refree 2 Clinic j in Kitimat April 9th

9°

with full registration, | .
full contact.

Starting a womens
division with full registration.

_ Any questions, contact:

Kevin at 635-7361 .. Karen at 635-3011
Carla at 635- 6776 Roger at 61 5S- 31 66

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Starting up a mens division |

Are you considering a a career in ‘teaching? ,

The University of Northern British. Columbia is now accepting
applications for the Aboriginal Teacher ‘Education. Bridging
Program. This program is a transition to-post secondary
studies and provides a culturally supportive learning.
environment drawing on Aboriginal perspectives. Itis a two-
semester program at the first year level, leading towards
further undergraduate studies and a Teacher Education
‘Program. The courses will begin in May 2005. We encourage
all those interested to contact the Northwest Regional Office,
-in Terrace. Mature and special entry students are encouraged

to apply.

The deadline for application i is March 25th, 2005.
Late applications will be considered as space allows.

Fort more information, please contact Laura Gosnell.or
Lisa McLeod at the Northwest Regional Office.

4744 Park Avenue.” °

Terrace, BC V8G 2W1 Los

Ph 615-5578/1-800-697-7388 . .

Email gosnelll@unbe. caor mcleod!@unbe. ca -

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