SUMMARY: As a consequence of a shot being fired through the wall of a home in Airdrie, the RCMP were summoned to the scene and an investigation led shortly thereafter to their attendance upon the residence of RAH. When the police entered the residence, not only did they locate the firearm from which the stray shot was fired but a large quantity of fentanyl and cocaine. Consequently, RAH was arrested and charged with the following offences: Possession of a firearm …
R. v. LAA [Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, Red Deer December 2021]
SUMMARY: In the spring of 2019 the RCMP commenced an investigation into the alleged drug trafficking activity of LAA. The RCMP believed that LAA was transporting cocaine at the multiple kilogram level from Calgary to central Alberta where he was supplying local high-level dealers. Ultimately, police investigation resulted in substantial seizures including approximately $100,000.00 cash, firearms, 1000 fentanyl pills, a brick of cocaine, half a brick of methamphetamine, 300 grams of ecstasy, 16 grams of heroin, etc. etc. etc. LAA …
R v. RSS [Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, Calgary – October 2022]
At the conclusion of a 1-week trial RSS was found NOT guilty of ALL charges including: Possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking . Possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Possession of fentanyl. Possession of cannabis marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Possession of proceeds of crime. SUMMARY: The police received information from a confidential informant that RSS was trafficking in kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine in the City of Calgary. The police launched an extensive …
Calgary Double Homicide
"Man accused of murdering best friend and father found not guilty" - CBC "Crown says evidence sufficient to prove Calgary man guilty of murder in death of father and son" - Calgary Sun "Murder charges OK'd in 2017 double homicide in city's northwest" - Calgary Sun
R. v. GGG, [ABQB, Calgary – March 2021]
GGG was charged with possession of cocaine and methamphetamine in relation to the largest drug seizure in the history of the Calgary Police Service. The “bust” drew national media attention including coverage in the Toronto Star. The following media headlines speak for themselves in terms of the significance of the seizure and gravity of the ensuing prosecution. GGG retained Patrick Fagan to defend this most serious drug prosecution as the Crown was seeking a lengthy term of imprisonment in the …
Judge rejects claim of police terror tactics
Police manhandling of a suspected drug dealer’s passenger was not a “terrorist tactic,” a judge said yesterday in rejecting a Charter application. Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Earl Wilson said the “dynamic takedown” conducted by police in arresting [the] alleged gang member was lawful. Wilson rejected a suggestion by defence lawyer Pat Fagan the conduct of TAC team members who arrested [the accused] and his passenger fell into the “realm of police-state terrorism.” In written arguments to support [the accused]’s ...
Judge stays drug charges after Crown breaks deal
A judge Monday stayed charges of trafficking in cocaine and marijuana against a Calgary man because the Crown reneged on an agreement to do so two years ago. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Chrumka agreed with defence lawyer Pat Fagan's argument that the charges against the accused, which arose from an investigation into drug dealing in Meadow Lake, Sask., in 1997, were an abuse of process. ``The agreement envisioned him not being charged with conspiracy and trafficking in cocaine ...
Seized money to pay for legal defence
An alleged member of a drug gang can use more than $32,000 seized in a major RCMP bust to pay for his legal defence, a judge ruled Thursday. The money was seized by local RCMP as part of a massive drug bust last September involving 300 officers from Red Deer, Edmonton and Calgary and led to the arrest of 42 suspects. Some of the cash was also seized Aug. 23,1999. Altogether, $290,000 in cash and 1.6 kg of. powder and ...
Cop couldn’t pick
The lead investigator in a heroin trafficking case couldn't pick the suspects out of a photo lineup - but his civilian partner could, court heard yesterday. RCMP Const. Len Pizzacalla admitted he was unable to identify the accused, 26, and the co-accused, 23, when he viewed two lineups 11 days after purchasing 56 grams of heroin. But Sgt. Ross Shapka later testified the Crown's star witness, Cau Tien, selected both accused as being present when Pizzacalla made the buy. Pizzacalla ...
Police marijuana case goes to pot
A police bid to sniff out a marijuana grow operation went up in smoke yesterday when a judge ruled a search warrant invalid. Justice Vaughan Hembroff agreed with defence counsel Pat Fagan that the information used to obtain the warrant from a justice of the peace contained inaccuracies. But Hembroff said "youthful enthusiasm," not dishonesty on the part of police investigators was what led to the fatal breach of the accused's rights. The Court of Queen's Bench judge threw out ...
Accused gets cash back
A destitiute farmer whose only asset is a condemned shack can use cash that the Crown alleges are crime proceeds to pay for his defence, a judge ruled yesterday. Justice Jack Waite granted an application by an accused marijuana grower to have $5,950 in seized money placed in his lawyer's trust account. The money was a seized by RCMP officers under proceeds of crime legislation during a Jan. 26, 1998, raid on a southeast Calgary home. The accused, 33 told ...
Not guilty of woodland pot
A Hay River man was found not guilty of a trafficking charge laid after eight kilograms of marijuana were seized in a wooded area of town last November. Judge Bernadette Schmaltz didn’t feel there was enough evidence to convict the accused, 45, following a trial in territorial court on June 24. The accused’s lawyer, Patrick Fagan, said the essence of the Crown’s case was that the accused had a wood-cutting license for the area where the drugs were found, and …
Teen cleared in fatal fight
STRATHMORE - A Chestermere teen charged with manslaughter after a fatal fist fight is not guilty of the crime. A collective gasp filled the packed Strathmore provincial courtroom yesterday as Judge Gordon Clozza read his verdict. "I find the accused did not have the necessary intent to cause bodily harm to the deceased...," he said. "I therefore find the accused not guilty of manslaughter." Crown prosecutor Danny Elliott and defence lawyer Patrick Fagan gave their final arguments March 22 in ...
Teen was fed up before deadly fight
A teenager accused of killing a schoolmate with one fatal blow was fed up of being called a mama's boy and a pansy. In a Strathmore courtroom Thursday, the fresh-faced teenager spoke calmly and articulately in public for the first time about the deadly fight -- his first fight ever -- between him and victim Tyler Trithart in a Chestermere park on May 25, 2001. ``It was to put an end to all this mama's boy and pansy stuff,'' testified ...
Suspect admits hitting victim
STRATHMORE - A teen on trial for manslaughter in a fatal pre-arranged fight had never punched anyone before and did not intend to inflict any serious harm on Tyler Trithart, he testified yesterday. The accused - who fought 16-year-old Trithart last May at James Peake Park in Chestermere - said problems between the two arose after he heard rumours that Trithart was calling him "a mama's boy" and "a pansy" behind his back. The 17-year-old accused, who was 16 at ...
Crown: Accused ‘dressed’ for blood: Defence contends death in fistfight was a freak injury
Changing clothes before heading to duke it out with a classmate is a clear indication a teen charged with manslaughter knew blood would spill and someone would get hurt, court heard Friday. Crown prosecutor Danny Elliott said the act of changing from a sweater to a T-shirt proves the 17-year-old accused should be found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Tyler Trithart. "He changed his shirt so the anticipated blood would not soil his nice sweater," Elliott told Judge ...
Boy ‘didn’t intend to harm’
STRATHMORE - The decision on whether a deadly fight was a "freak" accident or a deliberate act now lies with an Alberta judge. Crown prosecutor Danny Elliott and defence lawyer Patrick Fagan gave their final arguments yesterday in the case of a 17-year-old charged with manslaughter in the death of the victim, 16. Fagan said his client, who can't be named under the Young Offenders Act, didn't mean to kill Trithart in the May 25 incident. "The result of the ...
The finer points of killing while drunk: Men who kicked a victim to death get another kick at the legal can
On October 21, 1992, the accused beat and kicked the victim to death in downtown Calgary. At the ensuing trial in 1993, the two cousins were convicted of second-degree murder. But the Supreme Court of Canada, upon appeal, decided last year that the trial judge had not properly instructed himself on the finer points of drunkenness as a defence. Two weeks ago the retrial was cut short when the accused agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter. Between 1976 and 1988 …
‘Tyler dropped to the ground’: Schoolmates recall deadly fight
A fatal fight between two Chestermere schoolmates was relived in court Tuesday before friends and family, many of whom wore pins and T-shirts bearing the victim's name. Strathmore's only courtroom was filled to capacity as five witnesses retold in detail how the victim, a 16-year-old Chestermere High School student, died after a blow to the head during a fight that was reportedly over a girl. The teen accused of killing him is charged with manslaughter. The first witness, a 17-year-old ...
Teen found not guilty in fatal fist fight
The judgment Tuesday on a deadly fist fight opened a floodgate of emotion that poured over Strathmore's only courtroom. One boy walked from the courtroom, free to grow up, enjoy his friends, have a family and live his life -- albeit one that is inexorably changed. Another boy is dead, and as his father charged out of the courtroom after a not guilty verdict was read, he revealed the pain his family has suffered. The accused, a 17-year-old Chestermere boy, ...