GROW-OP CASE STOPPED OVER RACIAL PROFILING

A Superior Court judge has halted criminal proceedings against a man
accused of running a marijuana grow operation in Dufferin County,
saying police engaged in racial profiling by targeting the man because
he is Vietnamese.

The investigation began when an OPP officer went to the Barrie land
registry office and looked up people with Vietnamese surnames who had
recently purchased homes.

In doing so, police used race "as a proxy for criminal activity" and
violated Van Trong Nguyen's rights under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, Justice Emile Kruzick said.

Nguyen was arrested Feb. 26, 2003, after police searched his East
Luther home and found 596 marijuana plants. Dufferin OPP and the
Huronia Combined Forces Drug Unit raided the house, seizing plants and
equipment of a hydroponics operation worth about $835,000. Nguyen was
arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance,
possession for the purpose of trafficking, production of a controlled
substance, theft of electricity and mischief.

In a Jan. 16 decision, Kruzick stayed all charges, ruling an
individual's right to security and liberty of the person is violated
when police use racial profiling as the sole basis for an
investigation.

Admitting evidence police obtained illegally by violating the Charter
would bring the administration of justice into disrepute, he said.

"The officer engaged in racial profiling when he targeted the
applicant's residence as (a) possible marijuana grow operation,"
Kruzick said. "His only reason for investigating Mr. Nguyen is that he
was living in the home of his wife, Ms. Do, and they were Vietnamese.
It is a stereotypical assumption that because some grow operations
have been run by East Asians, that anyone purchasing a new home who is
Vietnamese must be conducting a grow operation."

The officer testified that he was searching only for names of people
who had been previously investigated in connection with marijuana grow
operations. However, Nguyen and his wife, Thi Thanh Do, in whose name
the house was registered, had no known ties to any marijuana grow
operation and no criminal records, the judge said.

The officer "consciously or unconsciously" used race as a sign of
criminal activity, he said.

Richard O'Brien, Nyugen's lawyer, said he believes it is the first
time an Ontario court has found that police engaged in racial
profiling while investigating alleged marijuana grow houses.

In another case last year involving a search of land registry records,
a Superior Court judge concluded race was not the basis for the
investigation.

In Nguyen's case, the officer obtained 17 names from the land registry
office on June 11, 2002. All were Vietnamese.

The officer testified that he kept watch on Nguyen's property in East
Luther for the next eight months and concluded it was a likely
marijuana grow operation.

OPP Supt. Bill Craig said they are reviewing transcripts of the
judge's ruling before deciding if further action should be taken or an
appeal pursued.

Craig said the OPP takes a "zero tolerance" approach to racism and
racial profiling during investigations.

"This is not standard operating procedure, but I would like to have
all the information to see what led the officer to do that in the
first place," Craig said.

He said a breach of operating procedures could subject an officer to
disciplinary measures.

"We would have to look at all of the factors involved before deciding
what action to take," he said.