BERMUDA JUDGE THROWS OUT DRUG CASE AGAINST CALGARY WOMAN

HAMILTON, Bermuda (CP) - A Canadian woman accused of conspiring to import
$150,000 US worth of cocaine into Bermuda walked free Monday, after a judge
threw out the case.

Judge Charles-Etta Simmons criticized police officers for contradicting
themselves when giving evidence against Paula Madill, of Calgary. Madill's
solicitor, Mark Pettingill, condemned police for conducting lengthy
interviews with the 34-year-old woman before she had access to a lawyer.

Madill, who has been in custody for seven months, broke down in tears when
the judge ordered the jury to find her not guilty. She refused to comment
but is expected to fly back to Canada Monday.

Bermuda's Supreme Court heard Madill and Wayne William Maximchuk, 44, also
of Calgary, were staying at a guest house in Pembroke parish June 28 last
year when it was raided by narcotics officers.

Madill, who was sunbathing outside, and Maximchuk, who was sitting on a bed,
initially denied knowledge of drugs.

Maximchuk then provided a pellet of cocaine and produced 27 more which he
had excreted. He admitted swallowing a further 50 which were still inside
his stomach.

Maximchuk was jailed for 7 1/2 years last month, when he pleaded guilty to
importing the drugs.

In a statement to police, he alleged Madill, a waitress, knew about the
drugs and had gone with him to Bermuda to "make him look good" as he came
off the plane.

Maximchuk said Madill was to be paid at least $1,000 for accompanying him
but she said she had no knowledge of drugs.

Justice Simmons threw out the case against Madill, saying there was no
evidence she knew about the drugs.

She said police officers offered "tenuous and vague" evidence in the
conspiracy charge, often contradicting one another and their own statements.

The trial found police admitted compiling notes which gave the misleading
impression Madill was in the guest-house room the whole time when the
interview with Maximchuk was being conducted.

Officers also admitted they questioned the pair for one hour and 16 minutes
before they began a physical search of the apartment.

After the trial, Pettingill said: "It is inappropriate and unfair to conduct
questions and answers at the scene over an extensive period of time and
three hours, the total time at the scene, is extensive."