A controversial proposal regarding the drug testing of athletes in our high schools has been the subject of several Signal articles. Cary Quashen, founder of ACTION Family Counseling, a successful drug intervention program for teens and their families, supports the notion and has offered ACTION's assistance. A committee appointed by the William S. Hart Union High School board of education interviewed coaches, administrators, teachers and parents. Many of those interviewed were concerned with the limited scope of the testing (only students engaged in high school extracurricular activities), transgressions of individual and parental rights, repercussions from positive or false tests, and the effectiveness of such a policy. Sean Herron, the student representative on the Hart board, wrote a compelling piece discussing why he and many students are against random drug testing. [continues 923 words]
Just about every week, we seem to hear of some court judgment that provokes public outrage. Last week, the controversial judgment was written by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce, who declared unconstitutional a police search of a marijuana growing operation. And while the judgment isn't perfect, it has received more than its fair share of unfair criticism. The case concerned Van Dung Cao, who was charged with producing marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking after police discovered 704 pot plants in the basement of his house. [continues 514 words]
Suspect in Hammer Slaying Wanted a Rebate on Money He Gave the Victim for Cocaine, Prosecutors Say BARTOW - A Lakeland man who thought he'd been ripped off by his crack dealer beat the man to death with a hammer then attacked the victim's wife, who saved her life by pretending she was dead, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday. Timothy McElrath told police about the attack in detail the day after theslaying, Assistant State Attorney Hardy Pickard said during opening statements in McElrath's first-degree murder trial. [continues 361 words]
SASKATOON - The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has upheld a decision stating the smell of burnt marijuana isn't enough evidence to arrest someone for possession, and then search his or her vehicle without a warrant. The ruling is centred around the case of Archibald Janvier. Four years ago, he was driving in La Loche, Sask., when he was pulled over by an RCMP officer because his truck had a broken headlight. The officer approached the vehicle and smelled marijuana smoke. Mr. Janvier was arrested for possession of marijuana based on the smell. [continues 128 words]
Defence lawyers argue that Crown's appeal of judge's decision to stay charges is doomed to fail Attorney General Chris Bentley should dispense with the Crown's likely futile appeal of the judge's decision to stay corruption charges against six former Toronto Police Service drug squad officers and hold a public inquiry into what went wrong with the prosecution, defence lawyers say. "Questions of what went wrong should be put to the attorney general by the public and the attorney general is refusing those now on the basis that the matter is still before the courts," defence lawyer Edward Sapiano told a news conference today at the Ontario legislature. [continues 557 words]
Supporters of Ryan Frederick, the man accused of fatally shooting a city detective, are planning a march and rally Feb. 23 at the city jail where the 28-year-old is being held without bail. The rally is planned from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Chesapeake Correctional Center, 400 Albemarle Drive. Frederick is expected to appear in Chesapeake General District Court two days before the planned rally for a bond hearing. Maj. Jim O'Sullivan of the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office said he was aware of plans for the rally. O'Sullivan said the marchers have a right to rally as long as they don't interfere with operations at the jail. The sheriff's office is not planning to take any extra measures for the march, O'Sullivan said. [continues 176 words]
Nine pupils have been found with cannabis in schools across Sunderland in the last three years. Figures obtained by the Echo under the Freedom of Information Act show that youngsters aged between 13 and 16 have been caught in schools across Wearside with "small amounts" of cannabis on them. Sunderland City Council and Sunderland Police said the pupils were dealt with and work is continuing to stamp out drugs in schools. Chief Superintendent Dave Pryer said Neighbourhood Policing Teams work closely with schools on issues like drugs, with some teams based in the schools. [continues 356 words]
It may be easy for Barstow residents to dismiss the concerns of Charles Sherman. Sherman, an ex-con, was burned in his bed by a flash bang device thrown in a SWAT team raid by sheriff's department deputies one early morning in January. Deputies were supporting the Barstow Police Department as they executed search warrants related to an attempted murder investigation. So far, Sherman has not been charged with anything related to this attempted murder, nor were the inhabitants of three other homes searched implicated (though five were charged with suspicion of drug possession). [continues 466 words]
Senate Democrats rejected Attorney General Michael Mukasey's request to roll back sentencing guidelines that would enable thousands of prisoners to seek reductions in sentences for crack-cocaine convictions. Mukasey asked Congress to alter the U.S. Sentencing Commission's directive, effective March 3, that would allow for the reduction requests. The directive could flood courts with requests from thousands of violent criminals, the Justice Department says. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called Mukasey's concerns a "scare tactic." Federal law comes down harder on crack violations than powder-cocaine violations. Kennedy says that amounts to discrimination because more blacks are arrested for crack violations. The Sentencing Commission adopted the harsher sentence in the 1980s in response to a crack epidemic. [end]
Court Rules Smell Of Burnt Marijuana Not Evidence For Arrest SASKATOON -- The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has upheld a decision stating the smell of burnt marijuana isn't enough evidence to arrest someone for possession of the drug and then search their vehicle without a warrant. The ruling centred around the case of Archibald Janvier. He was driving in La Loche four years ago when he was pulled over by an RCMP officer because his truck had a broken headlight. The officer approached the vehicle and smelt burnt marijuana. Janvier was arrested for possession of marijuana based on the smell emitting from his truck. The officer then searched the vehicle and found eight grams of marijuana and what was thought to be a list of contacts, which resulted in the charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking. [continues 200 words]
According to the latest data available from the Attorney General's office, 97,176 criminal charges had been waiting for trial for more than eight months in 2006/07. The ramifications of this can be severe. An Ontario court stayed charges of conspiracy, perjury and obstruction against six Toronto Police drug squad officers last week after the defence asked for the case to be dismissed on the basis of unreasonable delay. In Sault Ste. Marie the courts recently stayed nine charges of indecent assault against a man, including three to which he two days earlier had pleaded guilty, because of excessive delay in getting his case to trial. The anger and frustration that comes from such decisions is understandable. [continues 187 words]
