POLICE SLAPPED FOR YANKING MAN'S PANTS DOWN

Search Ruled Illegal, Judge Tosses Case

WINNIPEG police were given a verbal dressing-down yesterday by an angry
judge who threw out a drug case because of what he called an "intrusive and
gratuitous" illegal search.

Two general patrol officers in the north end admitted they yanked down the
pants of a known drug dealer to find six rocks of cocaine hidden in the
waistband of his underwear.

Three witnesses -- all friends of the accused -- say police went even
further by pulling down his boxers, exposing his bare buttocks. Police
denied those claims.

Judge Brian Corrin said the fact drugs were found doesn't justify the
police officers' actions.

"This was a deliberate violation of the accused's rights. The accused had a
high expectation of privacy respecting the contents of his boxer shorts.
The search was a serious privacy intrusion," he said.

"If not for the illegal search, the drugs would not have been found. That
makes the violation even more serious." Corrin ruled the product of the
search couldn't be tendered as evidence, leaving the Crown with no case.
Corrin acquitted Travis Paquette, a member of the Indian Posse street gang,
on the spot.

"It is simply not reasonable for police officers to pull someone's pants
down in a public place in the course of conducting a weapon's search," said
Corrin.

"This was a flagrant and debasing affront to Mr. Paquette's human dignity."

Paquette, 20, was out on parole at the time for previous criminal
convictions when he was stopped by two general patrol officers who
recognized him.

In fact, one of the officers conducted a spot-check on him a week earlier
that yielded nothing, court was told.

Police claim they were suspicious of Paquette when he started to run away
at the sight of their vehicle. They also knew he was on parole and say they
wanted to ensure he was obeying all conditions. The officers caught up to
him and found him carrying three cellular phones, which they believed was
evidence of drug dealing.

Police carried out a routine "pat-down" search -- which is legal -- and
found nothing. They testified at trial earlier this year they remained
concerned about officer safety because of Paquette's gang involvement.

One of the officers told court that when it comes to known gang members,
police "search first and ask questions later."

"Everyone is equal under the law. It doesn't matter where you are, how
despicable you are. You can't create two classes of citizens," Paquette's
lawyer, Martin Glazer, said yesterday outside court.