TOP COURT DISMISSES $4M DRUG CONVICTION

Illegal Search Of SUV In 2004 Was Flagrant Breach Of Suspect's
Charter Rights, Supreme Court Rules

OTTAWA (CP) - Even the discovery of cocaine worth up to $4 million
was no excuse for a police pull-over and search that trampled Charter
rights, says Canada's top court.

The Supreme Court of Canada has thrown out a drug conviction linked
to the 2004 seizure because the officer who hit the narcotics
motherlode "flagrantly" breached his suspect's Charter protections.

The high court ruled 6-1 to acquit Bradley Harrison.

It was one of four judgments handed down yesterday that clarify legal
limits for judges and police when it comes to evidence obtained
through detention or searches that cross the Charter line.

The rulings underscore that any breach of rights must be carefully
balanced against the value of the evidence, how it was obtained and
the facts of each case.

In the Harrison case, the high court overruled both the trial judge
and the majority of the Ontario Court of Appeal in stressing that a
provincial police officer went much too far.

"While an officer's 'hunch' is a valuable investigative tool -
indeed, here it proved to be highly accurate - it is no substitute
for proper Charter standards when interfering with a suspect's
liberty," wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.

On Oct. 24, 2004, the Ontario Provincial Police officer stopped an
SUV near Kirkland Lake, Ont., that Harrison and a friend had rented
two days earlier at the Vancouver airport. The constable had noticed
the vehicle was missing a front licence plate. He quickly realized,
however, that the SUV was registered in Alberta and didn't require a
front plate.

That's where the matter should have ended, wrote McLachlin. Instead,
the officer told court that since he already had his lights flashing,
the "integrity" of the police required he pull the vehicle over.

Harrison said he couldn't find his driver's licence. A computer
search revealed that it was suspended. The officer arrested Harrison,
but then searched the vehicle. Two cardboard boxes in the back of the
SUV contained 35 kilograms of cocaine with a value of up to $4 million.

Harrison had been sentenced to five years in prison.