JUDGE TOSSES DRUG CHARGES, SAYS POLICE VIOLATED RIGHTS

Durham Grow-Op: Officers Shot Dog, Had No Search Warrant

WHITBY - A judge has thrown out all charges in a $500,000 marijuana
grow-op seizure because of serious Charter violations by police, which
led to officers killing two dogs at a home in Pickering.

Superior Court Justice Barry MacDougall ruled yesterday that Durham
Regional Police officers had a "casual" approach to the Charter rights
of Edmond Kim, 30, when they entered his home in April, 2003, before
obtaining a search warrant.

The judge found it would "bring the administration of justice into
disrepute," to admit the evidence seized by police, including nearly
570 marijuana plants.

Police testified last month that they were called to the home after
receiving a call that two "vicious dogs" were terrorizing neighbours.

One of the uniformed officers pulled his gun and shot and missed when
he fired at a black Lab, after he became involved in a "standoff" with
the dog.

The black Lab and a Rottweiler were scared off by the shot and ran
back into a house, which was later determined to belong to Mr. Kim,
although he was not home at the time.

The officers testified they believed the front entrance was not secure
and that the home could have been the scene of a break and enter with
someone hiding inside. The officers also said they could smell
"unburned marijuana," when they approached the house.

An animal control officer contradicted the officers and said police
originally shut the door and later broke a pane of glass to turn the
latch and enter the house. The Rottweiler was shot and killed by
police inside the house. The black Lab died after he ate food that had
been poisoned.

The Durham police force did not obtain a search warrant until the next
morning, in part because it said it had "technical difficulties" with
a fax machine when it tried to get a "telewarrant" from a justice of
the peace that night.

Judge MacDougall rejected the police evidence that there were grounds
to enter the home without a warrant. "There was no risk of safety to
the police officers while the dogs were in the house."

The judge also referred to a number of Supreme Court decisions that
stress that "privacy expectations are highest" in one's home. Police
are not allowed "to break into your home" because of "some suspicion,"
of wrongdoing, said lawyer Leora Shemesh, who represented Mr. Kim.

"You can't have shortcuts. You cannot violate people's rights in the
sanctity of their homes," Ms. Shemesh said.