CAMERA OK'D IN NABBING TRAFFICKER

The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of a man who
argued his rights were violated by a police helicopter taking aerial
photos of a marijuana grow-op.

Piotr Kwiatkowski was arrested in July 2005 after an RCMP chopper
doing a routine search on Vancouver Island took some photos using a
digital camera with a zoom telephoto lens.

The Mountie using the camera could see plants with a distinctive
green colour through the translucent walls of the greenhouses on the
rural property near Courtenay. He could also see, from one angle, a
marijuana plant through an open door.

The photos led to police conducting a search of five greenhouses.

Kwiatkowski was arrested after he was seen in one of the greenhouses
holding a garden hose.

Police seized 3,000 marijuana plants capable of producing 173
kilograms of pot, with a wholesale value of $573,000.

Kwiatkowski tried to have the evidence thrown out after arguing that
the technology used by police violated his right to be secure against
unreasonable search and seizure.

Provincial court Judge Peter Doherty rejected that argument, finding
that the use of the zoom lens, which could be picked up at a retail
store, was no different than the use of binoculars or the use of
police radar on highways.

Kwiatkowski was convicted in October 2007 for the production and
possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

A three-member panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the ruling
and the conviction.