POT CASE THROWN OUT

This case is a real stinker from a police perspective.

A marijuana cigarette seized from a suspect who smelled of the drug was
inadmissible because it came from an illegal search, a judge has ruled.

Provincial court Judge William Gilbert said Banff RCMP Cpl. W.L. Young did
not have reasonable grounds to search Marc Zagar last Nov. 13 -- and
acquitted him.

Zagar was charged with possession of a narcotic after he was stopped for
performing an unlawful U-turn while visiting Banff.

When Young approached Zagar in his hotel parking lot, he "detected a strong
odor of burnt marijuana emanating from the person of the accused," Gilbert
said.

The officer asked Zagar if he had any drugs on him and when told he didn't,
Young searched the suspect.

He found a single marijuana joint in a cigarette package in the accused's
vest pocket.

But Gilbert, in a written ruling, said neither Zagar's distinct smell, nor
Young's olfactory skills, justified the search. "Such action is contrary to
the liberty of the subject to be free from arbitrary search and seizure."

Copyright (c) 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership.