Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jan 2014
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Keith Fraser

NEW TRIAL ORDERED FOR 2 MEN IN POT CASE

Judge says sign barring police did not protect pair accused of selling
marijuana from store

A new trial has been ordered for the owner and an employee of an
Abbotsford store that sold marijuana paraphernalia.

In December 2012, Timothy Lee Felger, the owner of the DaKine store in
downtown Abbotsford, was acquitted of trafficking in marijuana and
possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Natasha Kaye Healy, a worker in the store, was found not guilty of
trafficking in marijuana.

The acquittals came after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brian Joyce found
that the rights of Felger and Healy were violated by the police.

Felger, a marijuana activist, had put up a sign outside the store
telling police that they were not allowed inside without a warrant.

His lawyer also wrote a letter to the chief of the Abbotsford Police
Department advising police that they were not permitted inside the
premises.

But after receiving information that the store was selling marijuana
to minors, undercover cops entered the premises and purchased
marijuana on five different days.

Felger and Healy were charged, and in a pre-trial motion they argued
that their rights to privacy had been violated by police. The issue
was whether they could have an expectation of privacy in an otherwise
publicly accessible retail premises.

The trial judge found that the police had trespassed on the property
by ignoring the sign and threw out evidence collected by police.

The Crown appealed the acquittals, and in a ruling released Wednesday,
B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Nicole Garson found that an "objectively
reasonable" expectation of privacy could not be achieved by posting a
sign barring police.

She said the "overwhelming evidence" was that the activity of selling
drugs was occurring in a public place.

"I conclude that the respondents had no reasonable expectation of
privacy in conducting the business of the DaKine store, regardless of
whether Mr. Felger had excluded police officers from the premises or
not," Garson said in her 15-page ruling.

She set aside the acquittals and ordered a new trial for the two
accused.

Justice Mary Newbury and Justice David Frankel agreed with Garson's
ruling.  
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