S.C. was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped just outside of Lake Louise. The police claimed to have stopped the vehicle because they could not see if the passenger, who was reclined, was wearing his seatbelt properly. The police ultimately formed the ostensible grounds to search the vehicle and found a hockey bag with 30 pounds of marijuana in it. The police arrested the driver and S.C. and when the searched S.C. they discovered a vial of hash …
R. v. P.K. [Provincial Court, November 2016]
A concerned civilian noticed a vehicle driving erratically and narrowly colliding with other vehicles and a cyclist and called 911. The civilian followed the vehicle for approximately 15 minutes detailed his observations to 911 dispatch. The vehicle (allegedly driven by P.K.) rear ended another vehicle so hard that the hood of P.K.’s vehicle curled up over his front windshield. Instead of stopping to exchange particulars and render assistance as he was legally required to do, P.K. allegedly drove through a …
R. v. A.I. [Court of Queen’s Bench & Provincial Court, March 2016 and October 2016]
Police had been conducting an undercover surveillance operation for several weeks in relation to allegations of trafficking in fentanyl. Over the course of the investigation police observed A.I. engage in activity that they characterized as consistent with drug trafficking. In the course of their surveillance A.I. was apparently seen vomiting at the side of the of a busy road. The police seized on the opportunity to arrest A.I. for impaired driving and searched his vehicle. They conducted a search of …
R. v. R.J. [Court of Queen’s Bench, October 2016]
R.J. was pulled over near Lake Louise after a police computer check determined that he was driving without registration or insurance. Police noticed the smell of a “masking agent” (cologne); that R.J. was traveling to a “source” province for marijuana (i.e. British Columbia) and through computer checks determined that he had a conviction for possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. R.J. apparently presented as extremely nervous, which heightened the suspicion of the police that he was transporting contraband …
R. v. L.D. [Provincial Court, October 2016]
The police received a phone call from an anonymous caller about a woman high on heroin driving a stolen vehicle and following another stolen vehicle. The police tracked the woman to a pizza parlour where she was seen standing in her underwear eating pizza with a male. The male (L.D.) allegedly had three throwing knives visible on his belt and was arrested for possession of a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace. He was searched incident to …
R. v. G.C./ Q.M. [Provincial Court, September 2016]
Police observed a suspicious vehicle and ran the license plate through their computer system. According to the police the registered owner came back as wanted for murder. The police immediately pulled the vehicle over and arrested the two occupants. A search of the vehicle was conducted incident to arrest and the police allegedly located seven cell phones; a knife on the driver; cash; bear spray; 1.2 kilograms of cocaine and 250g of marijuana. G.C. and Q.M. were arrested for possession …
R. v. S.J. [Provincial Court, September 2016]
S.J. retained Ms. Fagan to defend 11 charges including sexual assault, uttering threats, unlawful confinement and assault. Ms. Fagan attended in Yellowknife to conduct the preliminary inquiry and S.J. was discharged on 9 of the 11 charges (meaning that only two remaining charges would tried by a jury). Ultimately Ms. Fagan was successful in securing a stay of proceedings on the two remaining charges before trial.
R. v. S.D. [Court of Queen’s Bench, September 2016]
S.D. was driving a vehicle outside of Lake Louise and was pulled over by the police for (apparently) weaving in his lane of traffic multiple times. The police detected the smell of marijuana and proceeded to search S.D.’s vehicle allegedly discovering over 5 kilograms of marijuana and 4 tubs of marijuana honey. S.D. was charged with possession of marijuana in excess of 3 kilograms for the purpose of trafficking and simple possession of marijuana (the honey). A few weeks prior …
R. v. B.R. [Court of Queen’s Bench, April 2016]
B.R. was a passenger in a vehicle traveling on the Trans-Canada highway. Two highway patrol men conducted a so-called “Checkstop” for sobriety on the vehicle and ultimately formed the grounds to search the vehicle. B.R. and the driver of the vehicle were questioned and imprisoned in the back of the police vehicle. Computer checks were conducted revealing that both the driver and B.R. had prior drug convictions. A drug detection dog was deployed who did not indicate that he smelled …
R. v. B.A. [Provincial Court, April 2016]
B.A. was charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. The Calgary Police Service initiated a large scale drug investigation involving a cocaine trafficking ring that B.A. was alleged to be a part of. An undercover police officer allegedly met with B.A. and purchase several grams of cocaine. The undercover officer paid for the cocaine with several marked bills. B.A. left the scene and was followed and ultimately arrested. The …
R. v. C.C. [Provincial Court, April 2016]
C.C. was criminally charged with impaired care and control of a vehicle; failing to provide a sample of her breath; and failing to stop at the scene of an accident. At approximately 4:00am the police responded to a call of a motor vehicle collision. The police found C.C. allegedly slurring her speech, unbalanced, unable to form logical sentences and her breath smelled like alcohol. She was arrested on the scene, taken to the police station and alleged to have failed …
R. v. G.A. [Provincial Court, March 2016]
G.A. was out at a popular bar in Calgary consuming alcohol. It was alleged that she got into an altercation with another female and threw a pint glass at her face shattering her front two teeth. G.A. was charged with assault with a weapon and hired Ms. Fagan with a single goal in mind: to walk away without a criminal record. Ms. Fagan successfully argued that this was out of character for her client and that the public interest would …
R. v. B.M. [Court of Queen’s Bench, February, 2016]
B.M. was driving just outside of Lake Louise when he was pulled over by police for weaving in his lane of traffic. The police (embarking on an obvious drug investigation) questioned B.M. about his purpose for travel and where he was going to/from. A computer check was conducted revealing that B.M. had multiple drug convictions. The police ultimately formed the grounds to deploy a drug detection dog who indicated the presence of drugs in the vehicle. The police searched the …
R. v. K.L. [Provincial Court, January 2016]
In the early morning hours police received a call of an impaired driver that was allegedly all over the road. The police tracked down the vehicle that was the subject of the complaint and discovered it has been in an accident. K.L. allegedly displayed signs of impairment and was asked to provide a sample of his breath into a roadside device. K.L. provided a sample and failed the roadside test. He was arrested and subsequently provided two breath samples which …
R. v. H.B. [Provincial Court, January 2016]
H.B. was charged with aggravated assault (one step below manslaughter) and unlawfully strangling someone with the intent to commit an indictable offence. The allegations arose in a domestic context and the complainant allegedly received a broken collarbone which required 2 surgeries and multiple pins to repair. Ms. Fagan was able to secure the withdrawal of all charges at preliminary inquiry.