Drug dealer argues he did not receive a fair trial
A confessed drug dealer is appealing his conviction by the Yukon Supreme Court, claiming his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were ignored .
A confessed drug dealer is appealing his conviction by the Yukon Supreme Court, claiming his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were ignored .
Yao Lin Guan was found guilty of trafficking cocaine last April, after a one-day trial.
The 46-year-old man was sentenced to 14 months’ house arrest in July, and permitted to return to Vancouver, where his wife and son reside. He was also ordered to serve 120 hours of community service.
Although Guan pleaded not guilty when charges were laid, he admitted to his involvement in the drug trade when interviewed by his probation officer following his conviction.
A pre-sentence report states Guan, an engineer who came to Canada from his native China in 2005, moved to Whitehorse from Vancouver to work in a local restaurant.
Before long, he was offered the chance to make some extra money delivering drugs, the report says.
RCMP Cpl. Jerry Walker became suspicious of Guan last fall, after seeing him engaged in what looked like a drug deal in the parking lot of the McDonald’s restaurant on Fourth Avenue.
The officer was off-duty at the time, but made a note of Guan’s licence plate, and the next time he saw the man’s Toyota Tercel, he followed it.
With Walker on his tail, Guan ran a stop sign, failed to stop when Walker turned on his lights and siren, then ran a red light.
During the trial, the officer said he watched as Guan fumbled with something, then leaned over to the passenger-side window and appeared to toss something from his moving car.
Walker eventually stopped Guan by pulling in front of his vehicle and arrested him for evading a police officer.
A search of the car turned up $365 in cash, but no drugs.
The RCMP’s canine team, however, found a bag containing 11 grams of cocaine on the same section of Two Mile Hill where Walker had observed Guan leaning toward the window.
During trial, Guan’s lawyer attempted to have that evidence thrown out, but the judge permitted it, and used it as the lynchpin in his final judgment.
Guan’s brief notice of appeal, filed on Aug. 4, states his fundamental rights were breached by an unreasonable search and seizure, and his right to a fair trial was obstructed because the prosecutor failed to disclose important evidence.
No more details are given of what evidence the Crown failed to disclose or why Guan believes the search was unreasonable.
Guan’s request for an appeal will likely be considered by the B.C./Yukon Court of Appeal during its fall sitting.
Until that time, he will remain under house arrest in Vancouver.
JC
Sep 1, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Another immigrant out to make suckers of Canada’s lame system. I wonder how big his cheque will be when he wins.