Police received a complaint that STS was parked at a local Walmart and was in a possession of a “large” quantity of cannabis marijuana. Police searched the vehicle of STS and found 161 grams of marijuana. STS was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis marijuana.
While 161 grams of cannabis marijuana is by no means a “large” amount, because of the very lengthy related drug record of STS the Crown was seeking a 4 month period of imprisonment. While STS was more than willing to accept full responsibility for the cannabis marijuana he certainly did not want to go to jail for several months. Consequently, STS retained Patrick Fagan.
The Crown maintained its harsh position relative to sentence until a couple of days prior to trial. As it turned out, the police failed to satisfy the statutory notice requirements of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act germane to the all-important drug certificates. This potential shortcoming in the case for the prosecution gave Patrick Fagan the leverage he needed to negotiate a non-custodial sentence. Bottom Line: The entire matter was resolved by way of a fine.