R. v. DAR, [ABPC, Didsbury – November 2020]

DAR and his associates embarked upon a substantial enterprise involving the production of what the police believed to be an illicit controlled substance – psilocybin mushrooms. The police obtained and executed a Warrant to Search the grow premises and as a consequence of the seizure of a substantial quantity of the impugned substance, DAR and his associates were charged with production of a controlled substance contrary to s. 7(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

By way of scientific inquiry, it was ultimately determined that the substance seized by the police may not fall strictly within the parameters of what is deemed unlawful in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

BOTTOM LINE: Patrick Fagan was successful in killing this most unfortunate prosecution 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..