COURT THROWS OUT DRUG CHARGES

Officers Had No Grounds To Search Home Suspected Of Containing Crystal Meth Lab

VANCOUVER -- When RCMP officers backing up a child protection worker
stumbled upon a crystal meth lab in a Fraser Valley home, they
thought they had an easy collar.

But three years after Doris Westrageer and Donald Wisser were busted
in Mission, charged with possession and production of methamphetamine
for the purpose of trafficking, they walked free when a Supreme Court
of British Columbia judge threw out all the evidence against them.

In a written judgment released during the weekend, Mr. Justice Brian
Joyce ruled that while the police had a right to accompany the child
protection worker to the home, they didn't have grounds for a search
when -- after detecting a chemical smell they thought could be from a
meth lab -- they pounded on a locked basement door.

The case began to unfold in November of 2002, when a B.C. child
protection worker, identified in the judgment only as Ms. Holly, got
a tip that children living in a house on Hillcrest Avenue in Mission
might be in need of protection because of an alleged lack of food in
the home, domestic violence, and a crystal meth lab in the basement.

When Ms. Holly called the RCMP and asked a police officer, identified
in the judgment as Constable Louie, if he could search the house, she
was told an anonymous tip was not enough to go on. But when she said
she was going to check on the safety of the children, Constable Louie
advised her to take police officers along for protection.

With three officers backing her up, Ms. Holly knocked on the door of
the home, introduced the group, and asked if they could "take a look
around," Judge Joyce stated.

The moment they were in the foyer, the group detected a strong chemical smell.

No children were in the house at the time, and the judgment makes no
further reference to them.

When Ms. Holly asked if she could inspect the basement, she was told
it was occupied by a boarder who was away. The family living upstairs
said they didn't have keys to the rooms.

Judge Joyce stated that after Ms. Holly said she wasn't leaving until
she was able to get into the basement, police knocked on an outside
door and saw Ms. Westrageer exit through the window, disappear, then
return to ask if they had a search warrant.

"After knocking on the door several times, Constable Louie began to
kick at the door in a more insistent manner. He announced that if the
occupants did not open the door, he would force it open. Mr. Wisser
eventually opened the door and was immediately handcuffed," Judge Joyce stated.

It was only then that Constable Louie prepared what is called an
information to obtain a search warrant, which was submitted to a
justice of the peace.

The defence argued that police had used Ms. Holly "as their Trojan
Horse" to get into the house, but Judge Joyce disagreed, saying he
did not think police were "part of a ruse concocted to advance a
criminal investigation." The entry into the house was reasonable, he
stated, but he felt differently about the entry into the basement.

"While the police did not break down the door, they gained entry to
the premises under the threat of doing so. . . . There was no
permission given to enter," Judge Joyce stated. He ruled the basement
search was unreasonable.

Judge Joyce said Constable Louie had grounds for "strong suspicions,"
but he did not have enough evidence to conclude there was a meth lab
in the basement.

With the evidence ruled inadmissible, the Crown case collapsed and
the accused were acquitted.