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Disco Cat
iS A PoiNdexteR

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Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN]
#7994505 - 02/08/08 12:02 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Pot grower's rights violated: judge 700 plants found, but RCMP's 'dynamic entry' not justified Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun Published: Thursday, February 07, 2008
A Surrey pot grower's Charter rights were violated when police used a battering ram to break down his door and find more than 700 plants in his basement, a B.C. Supreme Court judge just ruled.
Police are unhappy with the ruling, and hope the Crown will appeal it.
Justice Catherine Bruce said even though marijuana production is a huge local problem, Surrey RCMP should have given more warning to Van Dung Cao after they knocked, called out "police" and entered by force a couple of minutes later.
Cao, who was acquitted of all charges Monday, argued that he was on his way to the front door to answer after hearing police call out back in March 2004. But before he could get there, he said the police bashed through a garage door, guns pointed at him and made the arrest.
Two of the officers involved in executing the search warrant testified at Cao's trial in December that they waited at least two minutes after announcing their presence before making their way to the other door and entering.
But Bruce said that even though Cao's house hosted a suspected marijuana-growing operation, there were "no exigent circumstances justifying a dynamic entry."
"I am satisfied the evidence should be excluded. Notwithstanding production of marijuana is a serious offence and the Crown will be unable to prove its case without the evidence secured by the entry to the residence, to admit the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute," Bruce said in her ruling, released Wednesday.
"The manner of entry employed by the police in this case potentially endangered lives without any exigent circumstances to warrant their actions."
Surrey RCMP spokesman Cpl. Roger Morrow said he hopes the ruling will be appealed.
"Once again, we are seeing a judgment being ruled on a point of law that is potentially hampering the role of the police in enforcing the laws of the country," Morrow said. "And I don't think from what I've read what the members have done is unreasonable. But obviously I am not the justice."
Morrow said police are facing increasing threats of violence from those involved in drug trafficking. "We know that the people involved in the drug trade arm themselves. We know they arm themselves not only with handguns, but with submachine guns," he said.
"They are also arming grow-ops with booby traps. We know that. We are seeing drug violence on our streets on a weekly basis."
He said the ruling makes it clear that Surrey RCMP did knock and identify themselves.
"I am looking here at a two-minute interval from the time they pound on the door and say: 'Police. Search warrant,' until they go to a second door and that door is taken out and they gain entry," Morrow said.
"At what point then, when there has been that two-minute interval, are we permitted to go in when we are under the authority of a search warrant?"
Bruce said the police admitted they had no particular evidence suggesting that anyone in the Cao house might be armed.
"To attempt to justify the routine use of a battering ram to violate, unannounced, a private residence on the grounds that there have been weapons found in some homes where there have also been marijuana grow operations does not come close to meeting the onus upon the police to show why they concluded such force and surprise were necessary in a particular entry," she said.
Bruce said she considered the rampant drug problem in Metro Vancouver in making her ruling.
"It is well known that in the Lower Mainland the existence of marijuana grow operations in private residences is an ever-increasing problem that in some municipalities has become epidemic. As a consequence, society's interest in bringing those charged with serious offences to justice is a significant factor in this case," Bruce said.
"Coupled with the high expectation of privacy accorded to persons in their homes, the police created an extremely dangerous situation by forcing entry without any regard to the particular circumstances before them. Moreover, this kind of violent and forceful entry with guns drawn appears to be standard practice for the Surrey RCMP."
The Crown had argued that police can't wait too long before entering because a suspect could attempt to destroy evidence or arm themselves, but Bruce rejected that position as well.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada has 30 days to file an appeal.
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highdroponics
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: Disco Cat]
#7994636 - 02/08/08 12:51 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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"But obviously I am not the justice."
finally, a cop that has the balls to admit that they are not in the right.[end counter-sarcasm]
-------------------- Dr says to stop trying to treat the side-effects of big government and focus on the core issues. End the Federal Reserve/audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox, abolish the IRS, end all wars and occupancies, stop the building of an empire that will inevitably fail, and cut all unconstitutional federal programs. Put the power back in the peoples' hands by ending this nanny-state.
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Ojom
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: highdroponics]
#7994725 - 02/08/08 01:58 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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From an Americans point of view this seems like a bizarre ruling. If they really did wait 2 minutes, how much longer did they need to wait? Are the police just supposed to come back the next day if no one ever answers the door?
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highdroponics
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: Ojom]
#7994863 - 02/08/08 03:45 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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doesnt seem too bizarre to me, im american, and we are protected just as equally, only if we dont bring it up in court we get fucked over. hell sometimes even when we do bring it up we still get fucked because of how corrupt our court system, police, and government is.
i see now why other countries hate us, i can barely stand it myself that our government makes laws they cant even follow, yet they expect the citizens to
-------------------- Dr says to stop trying to treat the side-effects of big government and focus on the core issues. End the Federal Reserve/audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox, abolish the IRS, end all wars and occupancies, stop the building of an empire that will inevitably fail, and cut all unconstitutional federal programs. Put the power back in the peoples' hands by ending this nanny-state.
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Ojom
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: highdroponics]
#7994872 - 02/08/08 04:16 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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How are we protected? Police don't even have to KNOCK on our doors before knocking them down. Have you never heard of no-knock warrant in the U.S.?
Even with a normal warrant, if the police have a warrant in the U.S. they're coming in if you let them, or if they have to knock the door down. Any you probably won't even get restitution for the broken door even if they don't find anything illegal.
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ultimo101
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: Ojom]
#7994888 - 02/08/08 04:34 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Well this isnt the US and nobody in Canada cares how it is down there. This article is about Canada and this is a bloody ridiculous method of policing.
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: highdroponics]
#7994959 - 02/08/08 05:47 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
highdroponics said: doesnt seem too bizarre to me, im american, and we are protected just as equally, only if we dont bring it up in court we get fucked over. hell sometimes even when we do bring it up we still get fucked because of how corrupt our court system, police, and government is.
i see now why other countries hate us, i can barely stand it myself that our government makes laws they cant even follow, yet they expect the citizens to
nope
supreme court just ruled a violation of the knock and announce rule is not grounds for suppression, though it may be civilly actionable
I neglect no-knock warrants as I presume canada issues those as well. Hopefully the US will reverse the trend of granting these as requested following numerous fuckups recently
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justthatguy07
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: johnm214]
#7995069 - 02/08/08 07:09 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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This is great! Judges (justices) are finally starting to see that most of the damages from the Drug War come from the police themselves. Most people would never have anything bad happen directly from pot, except for when the cops bust in the door, guns drawn, and arrest them.
-------------------- This message was automatically generated via a complex algorithm, the owner of this computer was never actually on this site and has no knowledge of these messages.
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wireless
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: justthatguy07]
#7995384 - 02/08/08 09:19 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
"Once again, we are seeing a judgment being ruled on a point of law that is potentially hampering the role of the police in enforcing the laws of the country," Morrow said. "And I don't think from what I've read what the members have done is unreasonable. But obviously I am not the justice."
What a stupid fucking thing to say. There is a reason why those things are illegal, because it will escalade and DESTROY the freedom and rights that people have simply so you can "do your job". Fuck you fucking retard.
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Entropymancer


Registered: 07/16/05
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: Disco Cat]
#7995725 - 02/08/08 10:36 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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That's holding the cops responsible for their actions. I mean, it's not like this guy was going to be able to sneak out the back door with 700 plants under his arm. They already had the guy dead to rights. I don't see any reason to smash dow the guys garage door with a battering ram. Police can't just pick a lock the old fashioned way if someone won't open up for a warrant?
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Disco Cat
iS A PoiNdexteR

Registered: 09/15/00
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Re: Pot grower's rights violated: judge [CAN] [Re: Disco Cat]
#8025223 - 02/14/08 11:24 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I was looking for an address to write the judge to to show support, but haven't found anything yet. I found a page with people's responses to the newspaper, it looks like no one's given props to the ruling.
The link keeps screwing up after posting it. To see the page I'm talking about you need to go here, and then click for the cached version of the second search result.
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