11. Regina v. REE [Provincial Court of Alberta, Calgary, October 2019]

REE was the target of a Calgary Police Service (“CPS”) Drug Unit operation targeting so-called Dial-A-Dope drug trafficking within the City of Calgary. The CPS initiative involved the use of various undercover officers and the purchase of various controlled substances including the drug cocaine.

Between February 2018 and the end of April 2018 REE is alleged to have sold cocaine to the same CPS undercover officer on no less than 6 separate occasions. The undercover officer in question was very experienced and, to make matters worse, some of the undercover transactions were captured by way of covert video. On the face of the case for the prosecution, therefore, REE looked “dead in the water” vis a vis these multiple hand-to-hand drug transactions. REE was ultimately charged with the following:

1. 6 counts of trafficking in cocaine contrary to Section 5(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
2. 6 counts of possessing proceeds of crime (the drug buy money) contrary to Section 355(b) of the Criminal Code.

As the Crown was seeking a lengthy period of imprisonment in a Federal institution, REE retained the legal services of Patrick Fagan. Patrick Fagan entered an election of trial by way of a Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta sitting without the intervention of a Jury but with a preliminary inquiry.

BOTTOM LINE: Patrick Fagan was successful in killing this most serious prosecution in its entirety by way of a complete WITHDRAWAL of all charges. The matter never went beyond preliminary inquiry.