Pubdate: Thu, 20 Feb 2014
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Page: A6
Referenced: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html

MANDATORY MINIMUM JAIL TIME FOR TRAFFICKING RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL

A British Columbia Provincial Court judge has ruled that a one-year
mandatory minimum sentence for drug trafficking recently introduced by
the federal government is a violation of the Charter of Rights and
declared it "of no force and effect."

B. C. Provincial Court Judge Joseph Galati instead sentenced Joseph
Ryan Lloyd on Wednesday to 191 days behind bars, saying the 25- year-
old from Alberta was a low-level dealer selling drugs to support his
own addiction.

"Provincial Court judges in the City of Vancouver deal constantly with
drug addicts who resort to crime to feed their addictions," Galati
wrote in a decision last month on an application in the case.

Lloyd was convicted in September of three counts of possessing crack,
methamphetamine and heroin for the purpose of trafficking.

He has 21 prior convictions, including fraud or forgery offences,
thefts, assault, possession of a prohibited weapon and - most
significant - a 2012 trafficking charge.

With a credit for time served before sentencing, Lloyd spent 27 days
behind bars for that offence and was released about a month before his
arrest in the current case, the judge noted in January. Lloyd also
committed five more offences while on bail for the latest trafficking
charge. As a result, he has been in custody since May 2013.

- - The Canadian Press
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MAP posted-by: Matt