9. Regina v. A.S.S. [Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, Calgary – May 2017]
ASS was the target of an undercover street operation. During the course of that undercover operation ASS repeatedly sold street level quantities of crack cocaine to multiple undercover officers.
Identification was not a viable issue as the police took the time to photograph and (on at least one occasion) film the drug transactions. To make matters worse, on the day of ASS’s arrest the police obtained a warrant to search his home where they found him, a larger quantity of cocaine and cash. As a consequence of the foregoing, ASS was charged with the following:
- Four counts of trafficking in cocaine contrary to section 5(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
- Possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking contrary to section 5(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
- Possessing proceeds of crime.
It is extremely difficult to defend a prosecution for trafficking where the evidence is that of repeated hand-to-hand transactions with an undercover peace officer.
Bottom Line: In the circumstances of this case, however, Patrick Fagan was successful in killing all charges against ASS by way of the entry 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.. as a consequence of ENTRAPMENT.
For a transcript of the Reasons for Judgement click here.
Patrick C. Fagan is a highly accomplished lawyer with an impressive career spanning over 35 years in the legal field.