LAWYER'S QUESTION THROWS CURVE BALL INTO DRUG CASE

Judge Declares A Mistrial In Proceedings

A drug trafficking case took a bizarre twist Tuesday as a mistrial was
declared in order to avoid forcing a defence lawyer to testify in his own case.

Ryan Shawn Tourgeon, 20, was on trial in Grande Prairie provincial court on
a charge of selling marijuana to a Grade 8 student from Rycroft school.

Const. Matthew Barker of the Rycroft RCMP testified he had attended the
school on Sept. 23 of last year to investigate an incident of students
throwing eggs and was tipped off that a 14-year-old at the school was in
possession of marijuana.

He confronted the student, who produced a tiny quantity of drugs and, after
urging from Barker and his mother, fingered Tourgeon as the person who sold
him the drugs.

Tourgeon was charged with drug trafficking, to which he pleaded not guilty,
and opted for a trial by judge only.

The trial Tuesday took an odd turn when the young informant's mother took
the stand. She testified that her son - who as a youth cannot be named -
typically tells the truth.

Tourgeon's defence attorney, Robert Pollick, argued that the youth's mother
had earlier that day told him her son did, in fact, lie on a regular basis.

Since Pollick was calling the witness's credibility into question based on
his own interview with her, he was then in a position of being forced to
take the stand himself and testify about what he was allegedly told.

"He was going to become his own witness," said Morris Golden, who was
acting as prosecutor for the federal Crown in the case, adding that the
situation was a very unusual one.

"He would have had to release himself as defence and another lawyer would
need to be appointed."

After a private conference in chambers between Golden, Pollick, and Judge
Rick McIntosh, Golden applied for a mistrial, and stayed the trafficking
charged.

The Crown has a one-year window to re-launch its case on a charge that's
been stayed.

After declaring the mistrial, Judge McIntosh explained that he could not
hear Pollick give evidence because he would then need to make a decision on
his credibility, which could later influence him should he need to hear a
case argued by Pollick at a later date.

"He couldn't hear him again as a defence counsel after judging his
credibility as a witness," said Golden.

Tourgeon also reversed his not guilty pleas on charges of drug possession
and failing to appear in court, stemming from a July 14, 2001 incident in
Grande Prairie, where RCMP officers caught him smoking marijuana in a truck
parked downtown.

Judge McIntosh slapped Tourgeon with a $345 fine for the drug charge, much
higher than the $100 to $150 range Golden said is typical for marijuana
possession in Grande Prairie.