A narcotics sniffer dog detected a kilo of cocaine in Patrick O’Connell’s truck when he was pulled over by police in December 2018 | File photo
A man caught travelling through Jasper with a kilo of cocaine has been found guilty of trafficking.
Judge V. Myers gave his verdict at Jasper court Thursday (October 10) following a trial that ran on August 15 and 16 this year.
The court heard that Patrick O’Connell was stopped by police on December 3, 2018, while travelling along Highway 16 in his silver Dodge Ram truck.
The arresting officer, Constable Jason Frederick, said O’Connell seemed nervous while they were talking at his window.
Frederick said O’Connell’s hand was shaking, he smelled strong air freshener in the car, and he was suspicious of O’Connell’s story - that he and his female passenger were travelling from Maple Ridge to Edmonton to help her move.
O’Connell was detained for a drug investigation just after 8 p.m. and Frederick deployed his sniffer dog, Jango, to search around the vehicle.
When Jango gave her ‘sit’ confirmation at the rear driver’s side, her trained response when she detects narcotics, O’Connell was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.
Cops searched the inside of the car and found a kilo of cocaine.
O’Connell was rearrested for possession for the purpose of trafficking and taken to the Jasper detachment.
Judge Myers took lengthy consideration into whether O’Connell's Charter right to immediately call a lawyer or his search rights had been breached.
O’Connell had told police he wanted to call his lawyer as soon as he was detained at 8:06 p.m. but did not have access to a phone until he was at the detachment at 8:47 p.m.
The judge said he did not accept the first defence for this, that O’Connell couldn’t be offered privacy because he was in the back of the police truck that audio records, because privacy “is the right of an accused and they can waive that right”.
But he did accept the second defence: officer safety.
“Drug carriers often travel with other vehicles which could attempt to retrieve that cargo and use violence if necessary,” said Myers.
“This court accepts this given delay was reasonable for this circumstance.”
For the search rights decision, Myers said he believed Frederick “simply did not have enough objective-based factors” and the suspicions were not sufficient to allow a search.
“In this occasion it was not deliberate, but inadvertent,” said Myers.
He found O’Connell’s search rights were breached but said the situation weighed in favour for the evidence to still be included.
“I find the exclusion would bring the administration of justice into disrepute and the evidence is accepted,” he said.
O’Connell was found guilty of possession for the purpose of trafficking. The case was adjourned for sentencing for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
A curative discharge
A young man who pleaded guilty to driving over the drink-drive limit in March was given a curative discharge in Jasper court Thursday.
Curative discharges were given to drunk drivers when the accused was in need of treatment for an addiction, as long as the order was not contrary to the public interest.
This type of discharge was eliminated when Canada’s impaired driving laws changed in December 2018, but as Nicholas Pozarski’s charge dated back to May 2018 he was still eligible.
Jasper court heard that Pozarski was diagnosed with an alcohol addiction and has been receiving treatment.
Pozarski said: “Back in May I made a huge mistake. It was a low point for me in my life and it was a turning point to change the way I was behaving and I am glad that I was caught because it has changed my life for the better being sober.”
Judge Myers gave the young man a curative discharge and said he should return to court in September 2020.
“If you do what is presented to do, that discharge becomes absolute and it will be like you have never been convicted of a criminal offence,” he said.
Over the limit
A man stopped in Jasper for a cracked windshield also had cracked beer cans in his car.
Donald Watt was stopped at 7:06 p.m. on June 19 on Highway 16 at the intersection of Highway 93.
While speaking to Watt, Constable Jason Frederick saw beer cans on the floor of the front passenger seat, Jasper court heard Thursday.
Watt admitted he had drunk a beer and Frederick demanded a sample of his breath.
Watt failed the roadside breath test and was arrested and taken to Jasper detachment.
There, he gave two further samples of breath. The lower reading was 120 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. The legal limit is 80 mg.
Watt pleaded guilty to over 80 and was fined $1,750 and banned from driving for one year.
Irate patient kicked nurse
A young woman who lashed out at police and nurses at Jasper hospital has pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, assault and uttering threats.
Savanna Dykema appeared at Jasper court Thursday to face her charges, which date back to July 30, 2019.
The court heard that while being treated at Jasper hospital, Dykema “became irate and started yelling, disturbing patients around her”.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Rankin said Dykema pushed and kicked a police officer and kicked a nurse in the knee.
He said when Dykema had been put in the back of the police vehicle, Dykema was “yelling and insulting the constable”.
Richard Ireland, defending the 22-year-old, said “she was so grossly drunk” that she doesn’t remember what happened, but accepts that is what happened.
Sentencing was adjourned so a pre-sentence report could be prepared.
Assault plea
A Jasper man who pleaded guilty to assault and breaching probation will wait for his sentence while a presentence report is prepared.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Rankin said a woman reported to the RCMP in February that Christopher Bakogeorge “gets violent when he drinks”.
Rankin described two occasions between the two, one in which there had been a fight and the woman had ended up with a black eye.
After being charged with assault, Bakogeorge was on strict conditions to not drink alcohol.
But on May 13, police were tipped off that he was intoxicated at O’Sheas. He was found in the alley behind the bar and charged with failure to comply.
