Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jan 2015
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Page: A1
Copyright: 2015 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Mark Nielsen

GROW-OP CHARGES THROWN OUT

The case against a man accused of illegally growing and selling
marijuana in the Prince George area has been thrown out after a B.C.
Supreme Court Justice found the Crown took too long to bring the
matter to trial.

Quang Phuoc Truong, 44, was arrested in Prince George on Oct. 27, 2010
but as of Thursday, the matter had not yet gone to trial. Much of a
reasons for judgment from Justice Ron Tindale focused on a mixup over
where Truong actually lived and then efforts that were described as
"minimal at best" to serve him a summons to appear in court.

Even before then, there was trouble.

Released on a promise to appear following his arrest, Truong showed up
on Feb. 27, 2011 for a hearing in Prince George provincial court only
to learn charges had not been laid, and it was another month before
that step had been completed.

Truong was a no show at subsequent hearings and by September 2011,
police determined he had moved away from Prince George to an "unknown
location" and a warrant for Truong's arrest was issued.

However, Truong's driver's licence clearly stated he lived in Prince
Rupert. Eventually, RCMP in that city did attempt to deliver a summons
to Truong but gave up too easily in Tindale's opinion.

Although no one answered the door it was noted that on two occasions,
the home's lights were on, and a truck was in the driveway on another.

RCMP in Prince Rupert eventually found Truong and arrested him in
October 2013. After three days in custody, he was released and
attended all the subsequent hearings in Prince George. But there were
further delays due to a lack of transcripts for several of the hearings.

By July 2014, Truong had secured a lawyer, Ben Levine, and a trial in
B.C. Supreme Court without a preliminary hearing was scheduled for
March. In the interim, Levine also applied to have the case stayed
because of the delays.

Tindale concluded the Crown was responsible for 29 of the 46 months
the case would have been before the court by the time the trial had
started. Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it should ideally
take no longer than 18 months from the time charges are laid to get a
case to trial.

Details on the grow op were not provided but it was alleged Truong was
found with more than three kilograms of marijuana at the time of his
arrest.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D