NO SMELL, NO JAIL

Hadn't Smelt It, Hadn't Dealt It.

A B.C. man was acquitted of trafficking 5.5 kilograms of "magic
mushrooms" in Hinton Court of Qeeen's Bench Sept. 25 because the
accused and police could not agree on the smell of marijuana in the
accused's borrowed car.

On June 20, 2006, Whlhelm Evers was caught in a speed trap by
Whitecourt RCMP near Carrot Creek on Highway 16 driving as fast as
160 kmh. He was arrested after three officers smelled "fresh-cut"
marijuana in the car. A search turned up a hockey bag full of
hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms, as well as a bag of marijuana,
in the trunk of the car. All the bags were vacuum-sealed and could
not have emitted a smell, according to expert testimony in the case.
Evers was charged with trafficking both the mushrooms and the
marijuana. In sworn testimony, Evers said that, though he did not
have any impediment to his smell, he could not smell the weed in the
car during his hours-long trip from Cumberland, B.C. to Edmonton to
sell glass pipes to paraphernalia stores. He also said he borrowed
the car from his brother and did not know the drugs were in the trunk.

The Crown prosecutor asked Judge B.R. Burrows to ignore Evers' smell
testimony, asserting that he was lying. If Evers had indeed smelled
the marijuana, the Crown said the smell should have prompted him to
search the car.

However, Burrows said in his judgment the Crown had not presented
evidence to prove that one person could not have missed the odour,
even while three officers smelled the marijuana.

Though Burrows said Evers' credibility was "very much in issue", he
could not find without a doubt that Evers had lied. By that test,
according to Supreme Court protocol noted in the judgment, Burrows
said he had to acquit Evers.