DEALER ACQUITTED IN FATAL DRUG OVERDOSE

Edmonton drug dealer Ernest Joseph Cardinal was found not guilty of
manslaughter yesterday for giving cocaine to a man who later died.

But a federal prosecutor said he might ask for Cardinal to be
sentenced to life in prison for his Court of Queen's Bench convictions
for cocaine and marijuana trafficking.

Cardinal, 45, had been charged with manslaughter after drug dealer
Christopher Lecocq, 19, died after a night of smoking crack cocaine
and snorting powdered cocaine with Cardinal, who was Lecocq's drug
supplier.

Justice Paul Belzil said in his judgment he couldn't find any legal
precedents in Canada where a person had been convicted of manslaughter
for drug trafficking.

"I am unable to accept that Canadian law supports a conviction for
manslaughter in these circumstances," said Belzil.

The judge did find Cardinal guilty of two counts of cocaine
trafficking, a count of marijuana trafficking and one count of
assault, which stemmed from him punching Lecocq a short while before
he died. He acquitted him of two counts of uttering threats.

Belzil ordered Cardinal remanded in custody pending a sentencing
hearing set for Friday, after his defence lawyer sought to have him
remain free on bail.

During the bail arguments, prosecutor Cliff Purvis told Belzil that
Cardinal had committed the offences while on judicial release and he
would be seeking a prison sentence of between more than 10 years and
life.

Court heard earlier that on June 2, 1998, Lecocq was at Cardinal's
north-side home, where he smoked one gram of crack cocaine and snorted
between two and three grams of powdered cocaine over an eight-hour
period.

At about 8 a.m., Cardinal and two teens attacked Lecocq, who fled by
running away but was caught and assaulted further while struggling for
breath, court heard.

Lecocq's girlfriend took him to a walk-in medical clinic where he
collapsed and was sent by ambulance to hospital, where he was
pronounced dead 10 minutes later.

A medical examiner testified Lecocq died as a result of acute cocaine
toxicity, although he conceded that his asthma condition may have
contributed to the death.