MAN FIGHTING FORFEITURE OF TRUCK LOSES RULING

A judge has ruled against a Vancouver Island man fighting the
forfeiture of his truck after pleading guilty to drug charges.

Frank Albert Wolff, 54, was a fire captain in charge of three people
when he left Vancouver Island on Nov. 23, 2005, and set off for
Williams Lake to do some hunting.

When he checked an unlocked gym bag that had been given to him by an
18-year-old acquaintance earlier, he discovered what appeared to be
Ziploc baggies containing pot.

When he smoked some of it, he confirmed it was pot, but panicked.
While driving through Williams Lake, he was pulled over for speeding.

Wolff was charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose
of trafficking and later
pleaded guilty to the offence, receiving a conditional sentence.

Authorities want to seize his 2003 Dodge Ram Truck but need a finding
that it was an "instrument of unlawful activity," noted a B.C. Supreme
Court justice hearing the forfeiture application.

Wolff, who claims he was not involved in drug trafficking or
production and only pleaded guilty because he received the conditional
sentence and was allowed to possess a firearm, argued the vehicle was
not an instrument of unlawful activity as he did not acquire property
or an interest in property. He argued he was an "uninvolved interest
holder" in the matter.

But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Metzger was not persuaded,
noting that Wolff cannot collaterally attack the guilty plea in a
civil proceeding, and that there is no evidence he was coerced to
enter the plea. "A person who has been criminally convicted or
otherwise found guilty cannot re-litigate the issue of their guilt in
a subsequent civil proceeding, absent exceptional circumstances . . .
Mr. Wolff's criminal process did not meet any of the enumerated
exceptional circumstances," he ruled.

A second upcoming phase in the trial will deal with the issue of
whether the forfeiture would be in the interests of justice and
consistent with the Charter of Rights.