Pubdate: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2001 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.vancouversun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Glenn Bohn COUPLE ACCUSED OF RUNNING DRUG GUEST HOUSE EVADES TRIAL Police witness' vacation stalls charges against alleged West Van 'B & B & B' A couple accused of running a bed, breakfast and marijuana bud business in a leafy suburb of West Vancouver had charges against them stayed Thursday because a key police witness was on vacation. The trial of 32-year-old Daryl Robert Shelstad and 30-year-old Crystal Ann Nicholson on charges of possession of marijuana, hashish and an amphetamine ended a few minutes after it began, without any witnesses called or evidence presented. The couple had been living high up in the British Properties, in a rented, million-dollar Greenwood Road house with a hot tub and city views. In February 2000, after West Vancouver police seized 143 grams of marijuana, a chunk of hashish and some MDA or methylendioxyamphetamine, police alleged the couple was offering more than toast and coffee at a bed and breakfast called Mary Jane's Hideaway. Mary Jane is a decades-old euphemism for marijuana. A now-withdrawn Internet advertisement linked to a marijuana paraphernalia store in Vancouver described the busines a "B & B & B," or "bed, bud and breakfast" place. After repeated court appearances and re-scheduled trial dates, prosecutor Jay Straith told the judge Thursday he was "forced to enter a stay." Straith indicated a mistake had been made with the notification system for police witnesses, though the witness in question - a drug exhibit officer with the West Vancouver police department - gave notice in May that he would be on vacation this week. Outside the court, Straith said a vacationing police officer wouldn't normally be a problem, because the officer could be called in and paid overtime. The problem, he said, is the officer was vacationing in Quebec. Shelstad and Nicholson walked away when a Vancouver Sun reporter asked them to comment after the charges were dropped. Shelstad would only say he was "very happy." "Justice has been served," he said with a smile. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom