THUNDER BAY -- A judge has ruled that key evidence, including 17 kilograms of seized marijuana, will not be admissible in an upcoming drug trafficking trial.
Justice Helen Pierce ruled Monday that the marijuana and other evidence gathered by Marathon OPP officers during a Highway 17 traffic stop that led to the arrest of Thomas Lacoste will not be allowed to be presented during his trial.
Lacoste was arrested on Oct. 8, 2013 between Marathon and White River shortly after officers had been told to be on the lookout for a “small, white car, possibly a Chevrolet Cobalt” following a reported gas theft in White River.
He is charged with possession for the purposes of trafficking.
He was pulled over in a silver Honda, which was owned by his boss, and was not questioned about the gas theft.
The two officers noticed what they believed to be traces of marijuana on the passenger seat, which led to a search of the trunk where it is alleged that three garbage bags of marijuana was found.
The owner of the vehicle had a license to grow medical marijuana and told officers that Lacoste did not put the bags in the trunk.
Christopher Watkins, who is representing Lacoste, filed a constitutional challenge as to whether the officers were justified in stopping the defendant.
“The only grounds the officers had to suspect Mr. Lacoste was linked to a theft of gas at White River were that he was coming from the general direction and he was a lone male in a small vehicle. In my view, those do not amount to reasonable grounds to suspect that Mr. Lacoste was involved in the theft of gas or other criminal activity,” Pierce wrote in her ruling.
Watkins said the decision is important in terms of protecting people against searches under questionable circumstances.
“It’s significant because it notches back the whole principle that there are cases along the borderline where even though the evidence is found to be improperly gathered that it won’t be allowed in,” he said in an interview on Friday.
“It’s just an analysis of conduct that’s not improper, it’s not saying the police did anything illegal here, it’s just the along the edge behaviour that’s saying this evidence won’t be allowed in.”
The jury trial for the case is scheduled to begin at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on Jan. 12, though the jury is to be spoken to next week.
Watkins said the case is one where there is no threat to the general public.
“I think you have to recognize in the public perception of harm this wasn’t a truck load full of illegal marijuana. There were no guns or violence or any of the things the court may find it important for this evidence to go in,” Watkins said.
