POT GROWER DUCKS CHARGE

A Surrey Mountie who claimed she stopped a van because of a dangling
licence plate, not because she thought it might be linked to a possible
marijuana grow op, "seemed evasive and ... unconvincing" when she testified
in court, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled.

Justice Lynn Smith threw out the evidence against an accused pot grower,
saying the RCMP officer violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms' guarantee against "arbitrary detention" when she pulled the van
over Dec. 22, 2000 in Whalley.

The officer, identified as "Const. Gidda" in the transcript of the March 21
oral judgment released this week, was investigating a report of a
suspicious vehicle near 121 St. and 100A Ave.

"..a van with two male occupants was at that location (and) one of the men
had told a resident that they were the Surrey RCMP 'Green Team' and that
they were waiting for a police dog so they could do a bust across the
street," the judge noted.

But when the resident asked for ID, the two men fled. When officer Gidda
arrived, the suspicious van was long gone.

However, there were several vehicles and people milling about in the
driveway of the house the fake officers had been spying on, and when a
brown van drove away, Gidda followed and pulled it over.

The officer said she halted the van over because the rear licence plate was
dangling by one screw, a potential violation of auto insurance regulations.

After she stopped it, Gidda said she noticed a smell of marijuana and could
see pot plants in the back. Several plants were seized from the back of the
van and the driver, Lindh Carlson, was charged with possession of marijuana
for the purpose of trafficking.

His lawyer argued the police officer was simply playing a hunch when she
stopped the van, and that violates the Charter guarantee against
"arbitrary" detention.

Justice Smith agreed, saying "the constable's stated reason for stopping
the van was not, I have found,the real reason for doing so, which shows bad
faith."

She ruled the evidence inadmissible, and found Carlson not guilty.