DRIVER FOUND NOT GUILTY OF MARIJUANA POSSESSION

A man caught with marijuana during a traffic stop in Pitt Meadows was
acquitted of a drug possession charge Friday after a provincial court
judge questioned the legality of the police search.

Robert Chauncey was charged with one count of drug possession in 2006
after RCMP discovered the marijuana sticking out of a garbage bag in
the back of his Chevy van.

The court heard that Csnt. Kim Collopy pulled Chauncey over at 4:20
p.m. on Dec. 6, 2006 on Hammond Road near Maple Meadows Way for
driving without valid insurance.

Collopy testified that she advised Chauncey that his van was going to
be towed under the Motor Vehicle Act and proceeded to inventory the
items inside.

"We inventory the vehicle before it gets towed," Collopy told the court.

"So when the vehicle is returned back to them, it is in the same condition."

The marijuana was discovered in a black garbage bag in the back of
the windowless van after Collopy and another officer opened its back doors.

Collopy said the garbage bag was open and there was marijuana
"protruding through the top."

Chauncey was arrested under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
after the discovery.

The bag, filled with empty dog food cans, paper towels and household
garbage, was seized by police. The marijuana found totalled 5.8 pounds.

When questioned by Chauncey's lawyer Jack Thorhaug, the constable
explained that every vehicle stopped by the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
RCMP is inventoried by the attending officer before it is towed.

Collopy said although there was no written policy, it was a "best
practice policy of the detachment".

"During field training, that's what we were told to do," Collopy added.

Thorhaug said the search of his client's van amounted to an
"unreasonable search and seizure".

He asked Collopy why she didn't get a search warrant before looking
through the van.

I told the driver I was going to do an inventory, said Collopy.

"I didn't open anything. It was a marijuana plant sitting right in
front of you."

Before finding Chauncey not guilty of drug possession, Judge Daniel
Steinberg asked if it was a criminal offence to throw away marijuana.

"One would not take something that's valuable and for human
consumption and mix it in with dog food and garbage," said Steinberg.
"It's absolutely consistent with somebody throwing it away."

Steinberg noted the best practice for RCMP would be to ask the driver
to participate in the vehicle inventory, instead of doing it themselves.

"It is pretty close to a search without a warrant," Steinberg added.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association, an organization that works to
defend and preserve human rights in the province, has never heard of
a RCMP "best practice policy" to inventory a vehicle before it is towed.

"Police are often creating best practices that suit their law
enforcement needs that may not be fully accessed from a legal point
of view," said BCCLA president Murray Mollard.

"The police should know that this constitutes a search and unless
they have lawful authority and grounds for the search, it is
otherwise illegal."

RCMP do the inventory of the car to itemize any valuables inside.

Mollard said the police should ask drivers to take their valuables
out of their vehicles instead of conducting a search without a warrant.

"There appears to be no compelling law enforcement justification for
a search of the car," he said.