DOPE GROWER ON HOUSE ARREST WORRIES POLICE MAY ABUSE KEY

Police could abuse a ruling that gives them the key to a convicted Cape
Breton pot grower's home and the right to search it without a warrant, says
a Halifax civil libertarian.

"That would be the worry -- that it becomes entirely arbitrary, entirely at
the discretion of the police," said lawyer Walter Thompson.

"You're really trusting the officers of the state to be careful. But they
may be doing it for harassment; they might be doing it for all kinds of
reasons that have nothing to do with whether the guy is growing dope or not."

Provincial court judge Brian Williston sentenced Darryl Frederick Binder,
30, of Gardiner Mines, to eight months of house arrest last week for
growing what police called $400,000 worth of marijuana at his Warburton
Road home. As a condition of the sentence, Williston ordered Binder to give
police and his sentence supervisor copies of his house key.

The law guarantees people the right not to be searched by police without a
good reason, Thomson said.

"I wonder, indeed, if (Binder's sentence) would stand up to a Charter
scrutiny," he said, noting that if police suspect something illegal is
going on, they should have to get a warrant to conduct a search.

But Wayne MacMillan, the federal Crown in Binder's case, said house arrest
should be seen as "somewhat equivalent" to jail time, where guards can
conduct drug searches in cells.

The idea is to surprise convicted criminals on house arrest before they can
get rid of evidence, MacMillan said.

Binder said he knew nothing of the house-key condition until the judge
mentioned it in court during his Aug. 29 sentencing.

"When you don't got a choice, you don't got a choice," said Binder, who
admits handing police a key to his home "is better than the alternative" of
going to jail.

MacMillan said he doesn't believe police will abuse the power.

"I'm sure they've got more to do than be strolling over and using the key
to walk in at three o'clock in the morning," he said, adding the only time
they 'd probably use the key is if they get a tip that Binder was growing
pot again.

MacMillan said he arranged a similar house-key order for an Inverness hash
dealer about three years ago.

But that must have been a low-key case. A search of a national database of
legal precedents didn't turn up any key orders.

And Halifax defence lawyer Josh Arnold said he's never heard of a judge
ordering someone to give police the key to their home.

"What if you're live in a home with a bunch of other people?" Arnold said.
"Have they waived their rights? There could be other things going on in the
house that aren't illegal, but still might be very private."