HELICOPTER HEIGHT ISSUE IN DRUG BUST

The height of a heat-detecting helicopter proved to be the key issue
in a pot-growing case against a Christina Lake resident in Grand Forks
Provincial Court Monday.

Defence counsel Stan Tessmer asked Judge Don Sperry to stay a charge
of production of a controlled substance because the helicopter was
using forward-looking infrared scanning below 1,000 feet.

A recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling said such scanning could
infringe privacy rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The
charges stemmed from a raid Aug. 27, 2005 in which police seized 700
marijuana plants after hotspots were detected by helicopter
surveillance.

In what appeared to be a plea bargain, Tessmer said his client, a
decorated American veteran living on disability, would agree to plead
guilty to possession of more than three kilos of marijuana for the
purpose of trafficking if the other charge was withdrawn.

Judge Sperry stayed the production charge, sentenced him to
a $3, 000 fine on the possession charge and gave him
six months to pay. Two similar charges, of production and trafficking,
against a co-defendant, were also stayed.