14. Regina v. C.J. [Provincial Court of Alberta, Calgary – July 2017]

The police identified a stolen truck located in the driveway of a residence. During the course of police surveillance they observed C.J. leave the residence and walk towards the stolen truck; when C.J. started to enter the truck she/he was arrested by the police. A search of C.J. incidental to arrest resulted in the seizure of keys to the stolen truck and a variety of illegal drugs. The police took C.J. into custody and charged her/him with the following offences:

1. Possession of stolen property.
2. Possession of cocaine.
3. Possession of crack cocaine.
4. Possession of heroin.
5. Possession of “crystal meth”.

As C.J. was a person with no prior drug convictions and travelled extensively throughout the United States it was imperative to avoid a drug conviction. Consequently, Patrick Fagan entered pleas of not guilty to all charges and scheduled the matter for trial in the Provincial Court of Alberta.

BOTTOM LINE: During the weeks preceding commencement of trial proceedings the Crown ultimately conceded the strength of Patrick Fagan’s constitutional arguments and ultimately killed this prosecution in its entirety by way of a Stay of Proceedings is a legal term used to refer to a direction by a Crown prosecutor or a Judge to the Clerk of the Court to terminate a criminal prosecution. Click for more information..