14. Regina v. S.J.S. [Provincial Court of Alberta, Cochrane – November 2016]

This is another PIPELINE case.

SJS was southbound on Highway #22 near Cochrane when he was pulled over by the RCMP. Why? According to the police, the vehicle had “tinted tail lights”.  Upon stopping the vehicle the RCMP officer, employing his Pipeline training, formulated grounds to believe that SJS was in possession of a controlled substances and placed him under arrest. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed the presence of multiple fentanyl pills, bags of cocaine and bags of ketamine.  SJS was charged with a number of offences including possession of cocaine and ketamine for the purpose of trafficking contrary to section 5(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.  Patrick Fagan entered an election of Queen’s Bench and scheduled a preliminary inquiry.

BOTTOM LINE: At the preliminary inquiry Patrick Fagan was successful in having this prosecution resolved in its entirety by way of a guilty plea to simple possession of fentanyl and methyldihydromorphine.  Both convictions were dealt with by way of fines and the corresponding possession for the purpose of trafficking charges (cocaine and ketamine) were completely withdrawn.