DELAY TOO LONG - JUDGE STAYS DRUG CHARGES

Project Interfere's 29-Count Indictment Against 3 Local Men Is
Shelved

Nearly four years after they were nabbed in an undercover drug
operation, a Superior Court judge has stayed charges against three
Sault Ste. Marie men.

Justice Larry Whalen ruled last week that the 43 months it had taken
for the case to get to trial was too long a delay.

As a result, Darryl Bozowskyi, Ira Middaugh and Ron Middaugh's right,
under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to be tried within a
reasonable time had been violated.

The trio, arrested during Project Interfere, faced a 29-count
indictment with charges that included trafficking in a controlled
substance, possession of property obtained by crime and conspiracy to
traffic in a controlled substance.

Project Interfere, a six-month investigation in 2003 and 2004 that
utilized a paid police informant, nabbed 15 people.

Police seized $220,000 in hash oil, cocaine and other drugs, plus
$32,000 in cash, after raiding five residences and a downtown bar.

Whalen made his ruling after hearing two weeks of pretrial motions and
arguments from defence lawyers and the Crown.

He indicated written reasons for his decision would
follow.

"Each of the accused testified and all had been on strict conditions
for almost four years," lawyer Melanie Dunn, who assisted in
preparation of the pretrial motions, said in an interview.

"Clearly, they paid a high financial price trying to get a fair
trial."

The bulk of the legal arguments were made by Toronto lawyer Michael
Lacey, who represented Ron Middaugh.