SEARCH WARRANTS CHALLENGED

Don Skogstad Finishes Arguments In Case That Could Invalidate
Thousands Of Search Warrants In The Interior

A local lawyer has finished his arguments in a case that could change
the way search warrants are handled across British Columbia and
invalidate thousands of search warrants issued in the past six years,
calling the police investigations and subsequent court cases into question.

Don Skogstad has argued the current practice of issuing search
warrants from a central office in Burnaby is at odds with the
Canadian Criminal Code. This case has been brewing for some time,
said Skogstad, who also defended the owners of Holy Smoke against
drug trafficking charges this May.

"We waited until we had a perfect case."

The perfect case was a grow-op bust in the Slocan Valley in 2006. At
3:42 p.m. on a Thursday, the RCMP faxed their request for a search
warrant to the Justice Centre in Burnaby. Fifteen minutes later they
had their search warrant and the next morning police had uncovered a
garage packed with a marijuana grow-op.

According to documents submitted jointly by Skogstad and the
province's lawyers, the RCMP stated they could not appear in person
before a judge or justice of the peace because it was "impracticable
due to the distance of some 500 kilometers [sic]."

The Criminal Code prefers police ask for search warrants in person,
Skogstad says, but makes allowances for phone or faxed requests if
police believe that it would not be practical to appear personally
before a judge.

Skogstad says a 2002 decision by the Chief Judge of the Provincial
Court of B.C. to locate all justices of the peace in a centralized
office in Burnaby has made it impossible for police to make in-person
requests for a search warrant.

In his written argument, Skogstad wrote a locally-based justice of
the peace is familiar with the geography, may be familiar with the
credibility of certain police officers and encourages public
confidence in the justice system, Skogstad wrote.

The Canadian Criminal Code prefers in-person requests for search
warrants, Skogstad says, and changes made by the Chief Justice of
B.C. sabotages the intent of the code.

"I've argued that's unconstitutional. The Chief Judge has
effectively ignored the federal criminal code."

Lawyers for the province have argued search warrants issued by phone
or fax are as good, if not better than those issued in person. The
lawyer for the Chief Judge's office wrote that there are a limited
number of justices of the peace and judges hear criminal, civil,
regulatory and family matters, the lawyers wrote.

"The Chief Judge is best positioned...to allocate the available
judicial resources as seems best to the Chief Judge to deal
efficiently with this huge array of cases."