The defence has hit a legal speed-bump in the case of a man charged with two counts of second-degree murder. The lawyer, Pat Fagan, was forced to withdraw from one of his client’s two cases Wednesday in Calgary provincial court. “Much to my chagrin and amazement, the Crown’s key witness is a former client of mine,” said Fagan, who learned of the conflict late last week. Legal guidelines dictate a lawyer cannot cross-examine a former client on behalf of a …
Suspect will plead not guilty to murder charges
The accused is to make his initial appearance in a Calgary court today to face a charge in connection with the killing of a doughnut shop worker last month. The slaying of Bruce Allan Biso at a southeast Tim Hortons outlet is one of two slayings in which the accused, 33, is a suspect. The accused appeared in Cochrane provincial court Thursday in connection with the shooting death of Khang Vihn Diep, whose body was found in a ditch Aug. …
Estranged husband released by police
The estranged husband of a woman found murdered in her northwest home has been released by police but homicide detectives have not ruled him out as a person of interest. Terri Ann Dauphinais, 24, was found dead in her Citadel home Monday. Her three children — Gabriel, 4, Gideon, 2, and Caleb, eight months — were left alone with their mother’s body but were unharmed. They remain in protective custody. The accused, 27, was questioned by police late Monday and …
Man sought in N.E. shooting
Police have released the name and a photograph of a man being sought in connection with a shooting last weekend. The accused, 27, is described as the ex-boyfriend of the female victim. “If you see him on the streets, just call police,” Det. Scott Sampson said Tuesday. The victim was shot through the door of her home in the 400 block of 29th Avenue N.E. around 9:40 p.m. Sunday. “She was at home alone and heard pounding on the door, …
Man cleared in drug bust
A Mexican man charged in connection with the largest cocaine bust in Calgary's history was found not guilty in Court of Queen's Bench Friday. The accused, 29, will now deal with Canadian Immigration officials in his quest to return to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, after Justice Scott Brooker acquitted him on a charge of importation of cocaine and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. Brooker ruled the Crown failed in its attempt to link the accused to ...
Drug bust just scratches surface, police say
A record $12-million cocaine bust at Calgary International Airport has put only a minor dent in this affluent city's continuing love affair with the addictive white powder, police and drug addiction workers say. ``We're always busy,'' said Calgary RCMP drug section Staff Sgt. Birnie Smith. ``I don't think (use) has increased but it hasn't slowed down. ``We're an affluent city and there's certainly coke use here,'' he said. ``There is a lot of cocaine trafficking going on here -- but ...
Case of mistaken identity?
A Mexican allegedly involved in Calgary's largest cocaine-smuggling bust may not be who he claims to be. That's what Crown prosecutor Dan Misutka hopes to prove if Justice Scott Brooker decides today to permit a witness to testify via video conference from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The same request by Misutka was turned down by the judge earlier this week during the Court of Queen's Bench trial of the accused. Misutka renewed his application and requested a six-week adjournment when he ...
Witness to talk via video linkup
A Mexican witness in a cocaine-smuggling case won't have to worry about braving Canada's cold winter, the Crown said yesterday. Prosecutor Dan Misutka said he will be applying to have the unidentified witness testify via video link from Puerto Vallarta, sparing him a trip to the Great White North. But the defence lawyer in the case isn't exactly warming up to the idea. "It's difficult enough to cross-examine a witness through a translator - you lose that spontaneity that's often ...
Strange twist in smuggling trial
A cocaine-smuggling suspect is not the man he says he is, a prosecutor charged yesterday. And Crown lawyer Dan Misutka said he can prove the real person is sitting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. But the lawyer for the man Misutka is prosecuting said the best the Crown can establish is there is someone else with the same name as his client. "Mexico is a very large country," defence counsel Pat Fagan told Justice Scott Brooker. "It would be unusual if ...
Prosecutors hope to link drug cases
A trial began Thursday for a Mexican man alleged to be involved in the smuggling of 60 kilograms of cocaine into Calgary, the largest such bust in the city's history, two years ago. Crown prosecutor Dan Misutka is attempting to link the accused, 30, to illicit drugs seized from luggage of another Mexican couple who arrived on an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth on Sept. 2, 2000. The accused, believed to be the pickup man at Calgary International Airport, ...
Customs officer details drug find
Newly issued passports and vague plans led customs officials to be suspicious of a Mexican couple arriving in Calgary, a court heard yesterday. And those suspicions turned out to be founded -- when a search of three suitcases uncovered 60kg of cocaine, a smuggling trial was told. A Canada Customs employee said she searched the luggage of the accused and found they contained little in the way of clothing. But she said the three suitcases contained five boxes of what ...
Mexican man awaits verdict in cocaine case
The fate of a Mexican man accused of being involved in the largest cocaine smuggling case in Alberta history is in the hands of a judge. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Scott Brooker told court he will give his verdict on May 10, following final arguments Friday by Crown prosecutor Dan Misutka and defence lawyer Pat Fagan, who represents the accused. He must decide if the accused is guilty of being a party to importing and possession for the purpose ...
Workmen find massive magic mushroom crop
As soon as Calgary police Det. Ryan Dobson walked into the affluent condo tucked into a southwest gated community, moist, earthy air played upon his skin. He knew the source of the pungent air -- manure mixed with a whiff of straw -- was an illegal grow operation, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw as he rounded the corner into the enormous master bedroom. A sophisticated, intricate skeletal framing system was hooked up in the darkened room and ...
Judge frees cocaine case suspect
The suspected "greeter" in the biggest cocaine bust in Alberta history walked away from a Calgary courtroom yesterday a free man. Justice Scott Brooker ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove the accused was waiting at Calgary International Airport for a drug-smuggling couple. "I'm very happy for (being) free to go," the accused, who lives in Puerto Valletta, told the Sun in an exclusive interview. "Now my next step is to try to go home," he said outside court following ...
Canada won’t allow visits with accused, Mexican envoys say
Mexican diplomats trying to help three people arrested in Calgary last Saturday on cocaine smuggling charges say they are being thwarted by Canadian bureaucracy. ``We haven't been able to find out whether they are Mexicans or not,'' said Mexican consul-general Guadalupe Albert in Vancouver. ``If they are Mexicans, they will have the protection accordingly. They haven't contacted us -- neither the three, not the police nor the government.'' Ricardo Rangel Corona, 45, of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Evelia Barreto Robles, 27, ...
Drug proof disputed
The Crown may have bundles of seized cocaine, but it has no evidence to prove a suspected drug smuggler was waiting for its arrival, a defence lawyer argued yesterday. "A lot of dope, no evidence," Pat Fagan said in summing up the prosecution case against his client. "There are suspicious circumstances," the lawyer told Justice Scott Brooker. "But a man cannot be convicted on one suspicion or a thousand suspicions." Fagan's client faces charges of importation and possession of cocaine ...
Mushroom bust magical
City cops have smashed what's thought to be the biggest magic mushroom grow and trafficking operation in Calgary's history. Officers from District 2 backed up by the drug unit raided a home on Prominence Path N.W. yesterday after receiving a tip, where they seized 865 bags of psilocybin, or magic mushrooms. "These mushrooms were growing on a sophisticated rack system inside the master bedroom," said Det. Ryan Dobson. " This was an aggressive operation, and we conservatively estimate the value ...
Defence lawyer pulled into drug case
Medicine Hat defence lawyer Randall Pick may have to testify in a cocaine trafficking case. Pick was the lawyer when a guilty plea was entered to a charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking May 11. The accused was then released on bail until his sentencing, which was to have taken place in provincial court Tuesday. Instead, the accused's new lawyer, Patrick Fagan of Calgary, asked to have the guilty plea overturned, saying Pick had given the accused an ...
Officer linked man to drug smuggler
A 30-year-old Mexican man was arrested and charged in connection with the city’s largest cocaine bust because he had booked a hotel room for a fellow Mexican caught with illicit drugs. RCMP Sgt. Grant MacPhee of the RCMP said under cross-examination by defence lawyer Pat Fagan that the accused volunteered the fact he had reserved a room for Ricardo Rangel Corona at the airport hotel. MacPhee said the accused told him he was waiting Sept. 2, 1999, for his mother …