NEW INFORMATION OFFERS CHANCE FOR GROW-OP APPEAL

B.C. Court of Appeal

Roy Sundstrom, the Roberts Creek man who pleaded guilty to running a
grow-op in 2008 and continues to face forfeiture of his $600,000 home,
has won a rare chance to appeal his case.

A B.C. Court of Appeal judge decided Wednesday, Dec. 15, that
Sundstrom should be allowed to extend the amount of time allowed to
file an appeal in light of some new information Sundstrom and his
trial lawyer did not have when he pleaded guilty.

"Normally, such appeals must be filed within 30 days of the date of
conviction. We're well past that now," said Sundstrom's lawyer Kirk
Tousaw. "The new information that came to light regards the role of
his ex-spouse in apparently working as a confidential informant and
speaking to police on that basis."

During his trial, Sund-strom arranged with the Crown to plead guilty
to the charges of production of a controlled substance in exchange for
the Crown dropping its case against Sundstrom's common-law partner and
co-accused, Irene Cornelius.

What he didn't know though, was that Cornelius was the one who turned
him in to the police to begin with and arranged to be out of the home
when Sunshine Coast RCMP raided the property in 2006.

"The question that has not been answered is that if Mr. Sundstrom had
been in full possession of the facts, would he have entered the guilty
plea, or would he have undertaken some other course of action that was
open to him," Tousaw said. "That's why we felt it was appropriate to
at least attempt to make arguments on withdrawal of the guilty plea."

Sundstrom only learned that Cornelius had conspired to turn him in in
January 2009 - well beyond the normal 30-day limit to file an appeal
of conviction.

Sundstrom had already filed an appeal of the sentence, which included
a 15-month conditional sentence and forfeiture of his property.
Sundstrom's property was the first on the Sunshine Coast to be
considered for forfeiture when changes in federal law allowed the
government to seize proceeds of crime. It was the largest forfeiture
in B.C. at the time.

Tousaw said he will now file papers to include an appeal of his
client's conviction and a request to withdraw the guilty plea in
addition to the pending appeal of the original sentence.

"Who knows what the answer will be from the panel in front of him on
whether or not he's actually going to be allowed to withdraw his
guilty plea, but at least he gets to make the argument," Tousaw said.

Crown counsel argued against allowing Sund-strom to appeal in light of
the overwhelming evidence of his guilt.

At the time of the raid in 2006, RCMP described the grow-op as being
highly sophisticated including 800 plants growing in an underground
bunker, run by generators, with a second bunker capable of holding
another 1,000 plants.

Sundstrom, now 71, continues to live at his home in Roberts Creek
while his appeal is considered by the courts.