R v. SSS [Court of Justice, Lethbridge – March 2023]

SUMMARY: Following a month-long investigation conducted by the Lethbridge Police Service (“LPS”) involving mobile surveillance of SSS, they obtained a Warrant to Search his home in Lethbridge. As a consequence of that search, the police seized 957.2 grams of cocaine, 24 grams of methamphetamine, 931.9 grams of psilocybin, 7663.5 grams of marijuana, 181 packages of edible marijuana products, $20,000.00 in Canadian currency and body armour. As a consequence, SSS was arrested and charged with multiple offences including 4 counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime and possession of body armour without a permit.

BOTTOM LINE: When Patrick Fagan reviewed and analyzed the Crown disclosure, he discovered that the police may have been less than candid (to put it delicately) with the Justice who issued the Warrant to Search the home of SSS. While pleas of not guilty were entered to all charges and a trial scheduled, the assigned Crown Prosecutor wisely acknowledged the strength of Mr. Fagan’s position vis a vis conduct of the police and directed the Clerk of the Court to enter a Stay of Proceedings thus killing the entire prosecution.