POLICE RAID DIDN'T BREACH RIGHTS

Court Rules Search Of Accused Drug Dealer's Home Lawful

Armed and masked cops who stormed the home of an alleged drug dealer
with suspected gang ties did not breach his rights, Alberta's top
court ruled yesterday.

In a split decision, a three-member Alberta Court of Appeal panel
said the way the police conducted the search didn't impact its lawfulness.

But in a dissenting opinion, Justice Clifton O'Brien said cops acted
unreasonably when they raided Jason Cornell's Marlborough home,
taking down his mentally challenged older brother.

"The trial judge minimized the seriousness of the breach involving
the unannounced and violent entry into a private dwelling, such entry
including the masking of the police and their weapons drawn," said O'Brien.

The Calgary police TAC team entered Cornell's home the evening of
Nov. 30, 2005, bashing in the front door while wearing balaclavas,
body armour and with guns drawn.

The unannounced "hard entry" was done because police suspected he was
an associate of two members of a city gang.

But, O'Brien said the raid was not proportionate to the real risk
posed to officers.

"Here, by any objective measurement, the violent entry by masked
officers with guns drawn was not responsive to the degree of risk,"
he said in a written ruling.

Justices Frans Slatter and Keith Ritter both upheld Cornell's
conviction, ruling the search and subsequent seizure of 99.4 grams of
cocaine from Cornell's bedroom was lawful.

Slatter said the use of balaclavas by the TAC team members did not
make the search an illegal one.

"The wearing of masks by the police officers will rarely render an
otherwise reasonable search unreasonable," he said.

Slatter said while courts have long recognized the sanctity of
individual's homes, crooks can't hide behind that legal tenet.

"Criminals cannot shield their activities from search by conducting
them out of their homes," he said.

Defence lawyer David Chow said he and co-counsel Michael Bates are
already working on an appeal.

Chow said he hopes to keep Cornell -- who was sentenced to 32 months
for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking -- out on
bail until the case goes to Ottawa.

"We've already started making preparations to file our notice of
appeal with the Supreme Court," he said.