3. Regina v. A.S. [Provincial Court of Alberta, Calgary – February, 2012]

Client charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possessing proceeds (cash) of crime. A.S. had been the target of police surveillance during which they observed activity consistent with drug trafficking. Subsequent to an alleged transaction the police arrested A.S. and found him to be in possession of a quantity of cash. The police thereafter obtained and executed a warrant to search our client’s residence where they seized approximately 1 kilogram of marijuana. Our client was a university honours student whose professional future was in grave jeopardy as a consequence of this prosecution. An offer to resolve the case by way of a guilty plea to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking in exchange for “house arrest” was rejected. At trial we challenged the legality of our client’s arrest, the admissibility of a detailed statement provided (unwisely) by our client to the police, the police expert’s opinion with respect to the trafficking dimension of this case and (ultimately) the issue of “possession”. At the end of a hard fought trial verdicts of not guilty were entered on all charges.