COPS START PROBE AFTER JUDGE CALLS WARRANT APPLICATION 'DESTRUCTIVE'

Police are investigating the conduct of an Edmonton police constable - the
son of police Chief Bob Wasylyshen - after a judge slammed him for wilfully
deceiving a justice of the peace to get a search warrant.

"It's part of doing business in the policing world and it's unfortunate
that this came as a result of an investigation," said Edmonton's acting
police chief Gerry Shimko.

"However, I've seen many, many of these go through the process and, at the
end, we've found that there is no valid concerns on it. However, if there
is, we will deal with it appropriately."

Cops launched the internal investigation after a recent written ruling from
provincial court Judge Leo Wenden which harshly criticized the information
Const. Mike Wasylyshen put forward to secure a search warrant.

"It's important to note that this is the justice process, and it is doing
exactly what it is supposed to be doing," Shimko said.

"As you are aware, (in) any case where there is information that is used to
support a search warrant, that information will be subject to
cross-examination and scrutiny by defence counsel. ... We're proceeding
with an internal investigation to determine any validity on this particular
matter."

The judge said the way Wasylyshen drafted his warrant application form was
so "destructive" of the process it invalidated the search warrant.

Wenden then threw out evidence found in the search, including up to $36,000
of marijuana, hashish worth $9,500 and drug paraphernalia.

"To admit the evidence in such circumstances is to condone conduct by the
police that is indifferent, careless and, in some instances, deliberately
misleading," stated Wenden.

Wasylyshen met an informant at 11:15 p.m. on July 31, 2002, and was told
large quantities of marijuana and hashish were being stored for sale in a
south-side house. He later drove by the house and then applied for the
search warrant.

Wenden found Wasylyshen was careless, bordering on indifferent, by writing
in his warrant application that an informant had proven reliable "on at
least three prior occasions." But in court, Wasylyshen said he remembered
only one occasion where the informant proved correct.

And when Wasylyshen outlined the suspect's prior drug charges and
convictions, he didn't mention three of them were withdrawn or dismissed or
that they were entered between 1986 and 1991.

That was likely "to deceive the justice of the peace into believing that
the accused (sic) involvement in the drug world was ongoing and current,"
said Wenden.