Whitehorse Daily Star

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 .

By Justine Davidson on September 1, 2010

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.

Comments (10)

Up 0 Down 0

Concerned Yukoner on Oct 30, 2014 at 1:05 pm

Where can you report someone who is running cocaine without being exposed? They all seem to want to know who you are. There are alot of runners here in town. A few of them on Northstar drive. You have guys that have no jobs buying houses and BMW's. How does that work without being a lowdown person that doesn't mind cursing and poisoning people with crack. We need a new system to put these people where they belong. I know of a few people that do this but fear I will be exposed too. After all..there is more of them that coincide with the runners and out myself at risk. Sometimes I feel like neighborhoods should step up and watch for this and report suspicion.

Up 0 Down 0

someone on Sep 9, 2010 at 4:14 am

Kat Sias

Why would you want to legalize cocaine?? How would anyone benefit from that?? That has got to be the dumbest idea I have ever heard of

Up 0 Down 0

C.Joe on Sep 5, 2010 at 8:43 am

send him back to china I'm sick of these people coming to the yukon and poisioning our people with drugs and all they ever get is a slap on the wrist makes me sick!

Up 0 Down 0

Don McKenzie on Sep 3, 2010 at 12:53 am

Send his butt back to China. They are not quite as lenient as we are with drug dealers.

Up 0 Down 0

barb on Sep 2, 2010 at 11:25 am

Send this guy packing... he doesnt deserve to be a canadian, yet alone a yukoner... Drug dealers are not welcome here

Up 0 Down 0

bobby bitman on Sep 2, 2010 at 8:33 am

PS, I sound strident in my original post and yes, it is possible that this man left his home and family in Vancouver to wash dishes in Whitehorse, even though the original story said he had $600,000 in the bank and was an engineer, who knows?

I'm just amazed that he has the nerve to protest 14 months of house arrest for dealing cocaine, and I suspect there is more to the story than simply 11 grams of coke and a cell phone with people calling for drug pick-ups. There is more to this story, and even HE says he was 'asked' to do deliveries 'to make some extra money'. Asked by whom? Gee, there's a good question.

What I'm saying is, if he wants to re-open the case, the prosecutor do more digging as well. And organized crime generally have lawyers to pursue all the avenues and legal technicalities and loopholes. As a guy who said as part of his defense that hge was still enmeshed in the way things are done in China, because he is such a recent immigrant, his protest about his rights just seems a little 'off'. Saying he started working as a dishwasher then was 'asked' if he wanted to make more money by delivering cocaine around town suggests more to the story as well. The story that mentioned that does not say anyone ever asked him who offered him the drug dealing job. But as someone who claims he was just a lowly dishwasher and recent immigrant, I'd say the list of people wanting to involve him and trust him in a coke ring would be fairly small.

Where's the investigation on behalf of Whitehorse? This investigation and subsequent prosecution seems to have stopped far short of where it might have led, and now Buddy is complaining and wanting a new trial? Well, maybe he should get it. And a few more questions should be asked on behalf of our community.

Up 0 Down 0

bobby bitman on Sep 2, 2010 at 2:35 am

This guy has a lot of nerve to protest 14 months of 'house arrest' for moving to the Yukon to sell cocaine to the locals!

Whoops! I mean, he moved to the Yukon to 'wash dishes at a local restaurant'. (Ya rightl. Just what every professional engineer with over a half a million dollars in the bank aspires to do. Be a dishwasher!)

Investigate him thoroughly to make sure he did not miss anything in terms of what other of his 'rights' might have been trampled. I wonder what else might pop out of the wood work?

If he had been an existing local, selling pot to his adult friends, I would not have a problem with this. But he is predator who moved to our community to participate in a cocaine ring.

Up 0 Down 0

Dan Nickason on Sep 1, 2010 at 11:54 pm

I am surprised he even showed up for court. The last ones that were caught here with grow ops were released on bail and then disappeared. It's time to put a halt to a lot of immigrants coming to Canada. When caught in crimes they should be put on the next plane heading to their original country.

Up 0 Down 0

Kat Sias on Sep 1, 2010 at 2:50 pm

Of course we can all benefit greatly by legalizing what the people want and then taxing it to pay for it's own public safety regulation.

Up 0 Down 0

JC on Sep 1, 2010 at 1:33 pm

Another immigrant out to make suckers of Canada's lame system. I wonder how big his cheque will be when he wins.

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.