NEW INFO IN BLOWN DRUG CASE

Judge's Written Ruling Supplies Surnames Of Cops Involved

A rookie cop criticized for an "unfortunate lapse of judgment" and an
unlawful search that blew a drug and weapons case has been partly
identified.

A written decision by Justice Suzanne Hood of the Nova Scotia Supreme
Court released on Dec. 17 identified the officer only as Const. Muir,
a young cop who had joined the force only 10 months before the July
2007 search.

This newspaper published an article on the judge's oral decision
released on Oct. 27. The officers who were involved were not named in
the story.

Const. Muir and a man identified only as Const. Parent were called to
an accident involving Christopher Henderson in Dartmouth in July 2007.

The court heard that Const. Muir was interviewing the other driver
when he overheard a passerby say something about looking in Mr.
Henderson's trunk. Const. Muir went over to his car, bent over by the
gas cap and said he smelled gas. He asked Mr. Henderson to open the
trunk, which he did.

Const. Muir smelled marijuana from the open trunk and called over
Const. Parent, who also smelled the drug.

They then placed Mr. Henderson under arrest. Police found wrapped
baggies of marijuana and a bag of bulk marijuana, hashish and a loaded
handgun in the car.

But the case was thrown out after Justice Hood ruled that Const. Muir
knew that he "did not have the grounds to look in Mr. Henderson's
trunk and concocted the gas smell story to gain access."

Instead of getting more information from the passerby, Const. Muir
"guessed there was something of interest to the police in the trunk of
the car. His guess turned out to be correct, but that is not grounds
for a search," the judge wrote.

Admitting evidence "based on a deliberate attempt by the police to
mislead a person in a motor vehicle accident to incriminate himself .
. . would bring the administration of justice into greater disrepute
than excluding the evidence," the judge wrote.