DRUG CHARGES DISMISSED AFTER JUDGE RULES POLICE SEARCH VIOLATED
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

VICTORIA - Two men facing charges arising from a marijuana growing
operation in a Saanich home walked free Wednesday after a judge
declared a police search violated their constitutional rights.

Charges of production of marijuana and possession of marijuana for the
purpose of trafficking laid against Daniel Gerald McGauley and Sean
Samuel Stinson, were dismissed. A charge of possession of psilocybin
for the purpose of trafficking against McGauley was also dropped.

Justice R. Dean Wilson ruled evidence supporting the charges was not
admissible and the search violated the pair's right to privacy and to
be free of unreasonable search and seizure.

Court heard police were first alerted on July 15, 2004, to the
possibility of the operation by anonymous caller who supplied the
non-existent address of 14 Grove Rd. Police decided to check a home at
14 Gorge Rd., where McGauley came out and was handcuffed. Officers
searched the house and discovered a growing operation.

Wilson said police have an obligation to get confirmation of the
emergency nature of a situation, like a shooting, before the emergency
can override a citizen's rights.