DATED DRUG CHARGES GO UP IN SMOKE

COURTS: Man Charged In 1996

Following a brief trial Tuesday, a Sault Ste. Marie man was acquitted
of a 13-year-old drug trafficking charge.

Ontario Court Justice Kristine Bignell decided it would be "unsafe" to
convict Wayne Quesnel with no evidence to corroborate the Crown's key
witness. The now 43-year-old was charged with trafficking marijuana on
March 8, 1996.

Bignell heard from two witnesses -- Quesnel's former partner and a
city police officer who took a statement from the woman following her
arrest on drug charges.

Barbara Schmitt testified that she and Quesnel had ended an eight-year
relationship, that produced two children, at the end of December 1995.

For "pretty much'' of their relationship, the couple had been involved
in the drug culture, selling and using narcotics, in the various
communities where they resided, she said.

When their young son died in February 1996, Quesnel, who was living in
Vancouver, returned to the Sault for a period, the witness told Bignell.

Schmitt said Quesnel arranged to have two ounces of marijuana shipped
here from British Columbia.

In exchange, she said she forwarded 10 cartons of cigarettes, which
she was able to obtain tax free because of her native status, to a
friend of Quesnel's in B. C.

Quesnel gave her an ounce of the marijuana, she told federal
prosecutor Wayne Chorney.

She said she was staying at her brother's residence at the time and
Quesnel brought the grass to her.

Two days later, police raided her brother's residence and she was
charged with drug possession.

The court heard the charges were withdrawn at the end of April, three
weeks after she gave police a two-page statement incriminating Quesnel.

Schmitt said she had contacted a city police officer involved in the
raid, who had indicated he could do something for her if she would let
him know where she was getting the stuff.

During cross-examination by lawyer Trevor Simpson, she admitted she
contacted Const. Claudio Sacco in hopes it would have an effect on her
charges.

Sacco, now a sergeant with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, was
the only other witness to testify.

An officer in the service's morality unit in 1996, he said he had no
specific recollection of the raid but had information about it in his
notebook.

Sacco said he remembered Schmitt calling and asking to meet with him,
but couldn't recall if he knew what she wanted.

He couldn't say why the charges against Schmitt had been withdrawn,
but indicated it was common at the time to drop charges in exchange
for information.

In his closing argument, Chorney called the case a simple one
revolving around Schmitt's credibility.

"Just because she has a record and motivation at that time (to make a
statement to police) doesn't mean she's not telling the truth,'' he
said.

"She candidly admits she approached Sacco to get a favour for her drug
charges,'' Chorney said.

"She tells the story bluntly, candidly and was not shaken in cross
examination.''

Chorney said the reason "we're dealing with this 13 years hence is
because he fled the jurisdiction.'' Simpson argued that the
circumstances around the woman's statement should cause the court some
doubt.

The defence allowed she had provided a number of details about the
alleged trafficking, but suggested nothing about those details made it
any more truthful than if she made it up at the time.

Bignell concluded "this incident may have happened, but it would be
unsafe to convict on her (Schmitt's) evidence alone.''

She noted Schmitt is now living a blameless life, is employed and is a
productive member of society.

But at the time the woman gave the statement she had been experiencing
a number of difficulties, faced narcotic charges that later had been
withdrawn and had a criminal record for crimes of dishonesty, Bignell
said.