RIGHTS VIOLATED IN B.C. ECSTASY CASE, JUDGE SAYS

A British Columbia judge has dismissed charges against five men
arrested after a 14-month Ecstasy investigation because the RCMP had
"run roughshod" over their rights.

Provincial court Judge Paul Meyers blasted the conduct of the
investigating officers, saying they acted in bad faith and violated
the Charter rights of "each and every accused."

The scathing judgment, dated June 21 and posted online this week, came
after more than two dozen hearings carried out over two years.

Tin Lik Ho, Qing Hou, Shao Wei Huang, Yi Feng Kevin Li and Kai Lai
Kyle Zhou were charged with Ecstasy production and production for the
purpose of trafficking after a January 2007 raid on three homes and
one vehicle in Richmond, B.C. Police seized nearly 100 kg of Ecstasy
and nine pill presses, an operation worth an estimated
$10-million.

In listing the numerous Charter breaches, Judge Meyers wrote that "one
might have thought that the investigation took place before the
Charter of Rights had been enacted."

Police read the accused their rights in English, neglecting to bring
an interpreter despite acknowledging they suspected Mandarin or
Cantonese would be the primary language of most, if not all, of the
men and English "their (very distant) second language," Judge Meyers
wrote. "The police basically just closed their eyes to this real,
potential problem, by doing nothing in advance to plan for it."

When police arrested Mr. Li and Mr. Zhou, the pair were forced to sit
on the front lawn in the middle of winter for more than half an hour
in only their underwear while waiting to be hosed down for
decontamination.

Police also failed to show the search warrant to the accused in at
least one of the arrests and failed to file two search warrant reports
on time. Police claimed ignorance for filing one three weeks late and
had no explanation for not filing one at all.

" 'Ignorance of the law' is no excuse for a lay person and it
certainly is not an excuse for a police officer," Judge Meyers wrote.

The Mounties' decision to break down the door of one of the houses was
criticized as excessive and unnecessary, and police gave contradictory
statements on whether they had actually planned the "dynamic entry."

Judge Meyers concluded that "the repute of the administration of
justice would be adversely affected" if he were to allow any of the
evidence gathered during the raids to be admitted in the trial.

While acknowledging there is a strong interest in prosecuting those
accused of drug trafficking, "society also has a very strong and
vested interest in making sure that the police do not run roughshod
over the cherished rights that we have proudly enshrined in our
Charter of Rights and Freedoms Act," Judge Meyers said.

Michael Le Dressey, the Crown prosecutor on the case, said he could
not discuss it and the media contact for the Public Prosecution
Service of Canada could not be reached for comment. The Richmond
RCMP's media officer was unavailable and the police did not have
anyone else available to address the judge's criticisms.

The B.C. RCMP's conduct has been publicly scrutinized in a handful of
high-profile cases over the past two years.

A 2009 report on the 2007 Taser death of Robert Dziekanski at a
Vancouver airport slammed the four officers in the incident as well as
the follow-up investigation, saying police were too willing to use
their Tasers and the investigation was flawed. The Mounties involved
will appear in court in August on charges of perjury stemming from
their testimony at a public inquiry.

An inquiry report released last year on the 1985 Air India bombings
blamed a "cascading series of errors" by the government, the RCMP and
the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) for the failure
to prevent the bombing.

One of the men acquitted has launched a civil suit, claiming his
Charter rights were violated in the prosecution and has named the RCMP
as a defendant.

The RCMP has been criticized by federal prosecutors for the
investigation of the human smuggling ship MV Ocean Lady that landed in
B.C. two years ago. Prosecutors said the RCMP was rushed and sloppy in
the interview process and their handling of seized documents and evidence.