JUDGE TOSSES BRITISH PROPERTIES GROW OP CASE

TWO men who were arrested leaving a British Properties grow op where
police seized 450 plants have had the case against them tossed out of
court, on the grounds West Vancouver police officers violated their
rights.

Ngoc Hang Huynh and Van Hoang Huynh were arrested Feb. 3, 2006 after
police who were watching a suspected grow op saw the pair pull up to
the house, go inside and drive off again.

The pair were arrested shortly after, when officers pulled over their
minivan. They were taken to the police station, fingerprinted and
photographed.

That same night, police searched the house at 547 St. Andrew's Rd. and
discovered a marijuana growing operation with 450 plants being
cultivated in three rooms of the house. Police discovered the Hydro
meter had been bypassed and there were no personal effects or
furniture of any kind in the house.

The two men were later charged with both producing a controlled
substance and possession of marijuana for the purposed of
trafficking.

But a B.C. Supreme Court judge recently threw out the case against the
pair, saying police didn't have proper grounds to arrest the two men
when they pulled over the van.

Justice Catherine Wedge said police also violated the rights of the
accused when they didn't act quickly to get a Vietnamese translator
for the men, so they would know why they had been arrested and have
the ability to speak with a lawyer. The judge added that neither of
the men were told by police they had a right to a lawyer of their
choice after they were arrested.

In refusing to admit the evidence seized by police, Wedge wrote the
police showed "indifference" and "a pattern of carelessness" regarding
the rights of the accused in the case.

According to court documents, police had set up surveillance on the
house after receiving a report of suspicious activity by the
homeowner. Officers who stopped by the property said they smelled
marijuana from the road and thought they heard what sounded like fans
coming from inside. The two men were later observed going into the
house, turning on lights and later leaving.

Wedge, however, said that alone wasn't "reasonable and probable"
grounds to arrest the pair. Wedge noted there was nothing connecting
the pair to the house and they weren't seen taking anything into or
out of the house.

At best, the officer making the decision, "had a suspicion that these
individuals were part of a grow op," she wrote, in ruling the arrests
were illegal.

More troubling to the judge, however, was the delay in getting a
Vietnamese translator for the two men.

Wedge said it was apparent to officers who arrested the pair that both
spoke Vietnamese and they were having trouble understanding English.
Yet the officers waited two hours before contacting a translator for
them.

"I conclude the police acted in careless disregard of the accused's
rights," wrote Wedge. "It violated the liberty interests of the
accused in a serious manner."