POLICE CAN SEARCH YOUR TRASH, COURT RULES

Police are entitled to search through curbside garbage for clues to
possible criminal behaviour, says the province's top court.

The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled RCMP did not breach a suspected drug
dealer's privacy when they seized his curbside garbage for clues he
was producing ecstasy in his Calgary home.

Russell Stephen Patrick was convicted in June 2006 of unlawfully
producing, possessing and trafficking in a controlled substance. On
six separate occasions, police seized bags placed inside garbage cans
at the back of Patrick's property in southeast Calgary.

Investigators used items they found in the garbage, along with other
evidence they had, to get a search warrant for Patrick's house on Dec.
23, 2003.

Patrick has been on bail from a four-year sentence awaiting the appeal
decision.

In their majority ruling, Justice Keith Ritter and Justice Jack Watson
said Patrick abandoned the items once he placed them in an open
receptacle for pickup and therefore had no right to expect they would
remain secure.

"Anyone living in a major metropolitan area knows once garbage is left
for pickup it may be subject to disturbance by bottle collectors and
others looking for discarded treasures, as well as birds, dogs and
vermin. Anyone placing garbage in an open receptacle enjoys virtually
no control over it," Ritter said.

In her dissenting opinion, Justice Carole Conrad ruled police
investigators breached Patrick's right to privacy when they reached
across his property line to seize his trash and he was entitled to be
acquitted on all charges.

"I find the trial judge erred when he did not consider whether the
appellant had a reasonable expectation of territorial privacy.

"I am satisfied the appellant had a reasonable expectation of privacy
with respect to his home and yard, and that his rights under Section 8
of the Charter were breached when the police crossed over his property
and seized his garbage," she wrote.