Pubdate: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 Source: Province, The (CN BC) - -4daf-8f54-8e87693a8e5a Copyright: 2005 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Keith Fraser COPS TRESPASSED, BUT ACCUSED GUILTY The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a marijuana grow-op conviction after criticizing Vancouver police for trespassing on the property of a neighbour of the accused. In January 2003, Jay Hok was found guilty of unlawfully producing marijuana and possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, after police busted his grow-op at (address deleted). Over the course of a year, without a search warrant, cops stood on a property to the west of the target residence and conducted surveillance. Officers smelled pot in the wind coming from the grow-op house. The police were also close enough to monitor the higher-than-normal readings on that house's hydro meter. Seizing a house key from one of the occupants, police executed a search warrant and discovered more than three kilograms of pot. Hok appealed his conviction on the grounds that the trial judge had erred in failing to find police had violated his Charter rights. Dismissing the appeal, Justice Mary Southin noted that while police were trespassing on the neighbour's property, she couldn't say the officers were guilty of an offence. No authority binding on the court either requires or permits the court to exclude evidence illegally obtained unless it was obtained in breach of the accused's Charter rights, said the judge. "This evidence was not so obtained, as the trespass was not against the accused," said Southin. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh