10. Regina v. A.S.R. [Provincial Court of Alberta, Canmore – May 2014]

ASR was driving a vehicle on Highway #1 near Lake Louise when he was pulled over by the RCMP for having a “dirty license plate”. TRANSLATION: this was a classic Pipeline Drug Interdiction profiling stop. After engaging ASR in a scripted Q&A and making a number of observations of purported investigative significance (rental car, heightened nervousness, messy car interior) the police ran ASR on the system and discovered that he had been charged years ago (but never convicted) of trafficking. The police detained ASR for suspicion of drug trafficking and summoned a police service drug dog. The dog “hit” on the car resulting in the seizure of a substantial quantity of ecstasy (over half a kilogram), multiple kilograms of cannabis marijuana and an assortment of other controlled substances. ASR was subsequently charged with 5 counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking BOTTOM LINE: this prosecution was terminated/resolved in its entirety 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. prior to commencement of the preliminary inquiry.