A missing defendant showed up and one of the five co-accused was set free Tuesday, as a marijuana trafficking conspiracy trial got underway in Saint John. Dwayne Noel Ireland, who had car trouble in Quebec on his way from Calgary to the trial, slipped into his seat Tuesday after the judge was already on the bench. As the seven lawyers were identifying themselves for the court record, Mr. Ireland sat down. When his lawyer John Henderson said, “my client is …
Tip helps cops in coke bust
CALGARY (Sun Media) – Acting on a rare tip possibly supplied by a criminal rival, city police say they seized a haul of cocaine worth up to $800,000 destined for Calgary streets. The anonymous tip led police to a car they stopped May 9 in the 300 block of Country Hills Blvd. N.W. In the trunk, they found 8 kg of cocaine that, if sold by the gram, would be worth $800,000, said the Acting Staff Sergeant. “The tip could …
Drug dealer gets house arrest
A 29-year-old man is under house arrest at his Blackie area home after pleading guilty at Okotoks Provincial Court on Sept. 21 to trafficking cocaine. Federal Crown prosecutor BAxter Lee told Judge R.J. Wilkins that on April 9, 2006, HIgh River RCMP, after a substantial investigation, was issued a search warrant for [the accused’s] residence. At the time [the accused] was living in a residence on Scott Close in the hamlet of Blackie. Lee said RCMP found 22 grams of …
Record $4-million seizure
A four-month investigation has led officers to the largest cocaine bust in city history. Nearly $4 million worth of cocaine was pulled from two homes and vehicles in south Calgary, as well as nine firearms, about $90,000 in cash and a pill press used to make ecstasy, the Calgary Police Service said Wednesday. “This was a record seizure for us,” said Insp. Rob Williams. “We (have) 38 bricks of cocaine, each weighing in excess of a kilogram.” The drugs were …
Tac team rappels into suite – Police seize hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs, handguns and vehicles
By SARAH KENNEDY, CALGARY SUN With some TAC team members rappelling down a 27-storey building and others storming through hallways, a luxury condo was busted by police who seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs, handguns and vehicles. The bust — the result of a three month investigation — happened Thursday evening in a condo at 920 5 Ave. S.W. where three people were arrested. Inside the upscale suite, cops seized $143,000 worth of cocaine, $11,000 worth of …
Haunted death: Judge clears man in friend’s fatality
He may have been cleared of all criminal responsibility in the traffic death of his buddy, but a Calgary man is still haunted by his loss. "Jesse's still gone," the accused said yesterday, moments after being cleared of failing a breathalyzer following a crash which triggered Jesse Eugene Roberts' death. "I deal with that every day." Justice Patrick Sullivan said he believed the accused evidence that he consumed a six-pack of beer and one shot of whiskey in the hours ...
Judge clears driver in fatal crash
The accused walked away from court Monday free of legal encumbrances after being acquitted of drunk driving in connection with an accident that claimed the life of his passenger and close friend. There remains, however, an albatross around the 25-year-old man's neck that may never be shed. "Every day . . . the worst is when I'm at work and when I'm driving down the road, especially where the accident happened," the accused said when asked about the impact of ...
Accused walks in car death: Reasonable doubt, says judge
Two trials and four years later, justice has still not been met for a Coalhurst father. The accused, his eyes clouded with unshed tears; was stunned when a Calgary judge found the accused not guilty of three charges stemming from the August 1993 collision that killed his pregnant daughter. Patricia Rose Goldade was killed in a two-vehicle collision Aug. 28, 1993 at the intersection of 5 Avenue and 23 Street North. She was 28 years old and five months pregnant. ...
Appeal rattles victim’s family: Appeals court orders new trial for man convicted of impaired driving
Shocked members of a dead Lethbridge woman's family say they have lost faith in the justice system after the man convicted in her death was granted a new trial by the Alberta Court of Appeals Monday. The accused, 40, was sentenced to four years in prison in May 1995 for impaired driving causing the death of the victim. He has been free pending the appeal. The victim, 28 and five months pregnant, was killed Aug. 28, 1993 at the intersection ...
Defence says statements inadmissible at accused’s retrial
A judge will likely rule today whether three incriminating statements given to police by a man accused of impaired driving causing death four years ago are admissible at his retrial. The accused, 41, is being re-tried on charges of impaired driving causing death, criminal negligence causing death and impaired driving. The accused was convicted in May 1995 of impaired driving causing the death of the victim in a collision in north Lethbridge in August 1993. He was sentenced to four ...
Accused’s statements ruled inadmissible
A judge has ruled two of three incriminating statements, made to Lethbridge police officers hours after a fatal vehicle collision in August 1993, will not be admissible in the re-trial of the accused. Mr. Justice Art Lutz of Calgary ruled Wednesday the two statements, given to Const. Darcy James hours after a collision in north Lethbridge killed a pregnant Lethbridge woman early Aug. 28, 1993, were made in violation of the accused's rights. However, a statement by the accused to ...
Woman cleared in crash
A woman charged with careless driving in connection with a fatal highway crash has been found not guilty. The accused, 55, was critically injured in the Nov. 19, 2003, collision that killed Ingrid McCormick. McCormick was driving a Chevrolet Astro van eastbound on Highway 8 near Range Road 31 when it collided with the accused minibus headed in the other direction. McCormick, a mother of three, was driving to her teaching job at a northwest Calgary junior high school when ...
Seeing accused upsets family
An air of tension hung over a Calgary courtroom as the man accused of killing a local teen made his first court appearance after he was released on bail. The accused, 38, made a short appearance in provincial court Friday and quickly left the building as more than a dozen of TG's relatives huddled together to cry and express outrage over the accused's release. "I don't see how they would let him go. If he murdered somebody, who's to say ...
Bail for suspect: Chestermere homicide case
The boy charged with murdering Chestermere teen Tyler Trithart during a punch-up over a girl has been released on bail. Youth court Judge Steven Lipton yesterday said their were no legal grounds to keep the accused killer behind bars before his trial. Under the Criminal Code, a suspect can be detained if he is a flight risk, a danger to the public, or any other just cause including maintaining confidence in the justice system. At defence lawyer Patrick Fagan's request, ...
Teen charged in death gets bail
A Chestermere teen accused of beating a classmate to death is devastated by the incident, said his lawyer Tuesday, immediately after his client was released into his parents' custody. ``Obviously, he's devastated by the death of Tyler and obviously his arrest last Friday. Being taken from his home, handcuffed, arrested for second-degree murder had a traumatic effect on him,'' said defence lawyer Patrick Fagan on the steps of family and youth court in Calgary Tuesday morning. Tyler Trithart, 16, died ...
Gangster suspect faces new gun charge
One of three suspected high-ranking gang members is in more legal hot water after police charged him with another firearms offence. The accused made a brief court appearance yesterday and was remanded in custody after he was charged with a Feb. 26, charge of possession of a handgun for a dangerous purpose. He was arrested while out on bail on eight other weapons offences stemming from a police traffic stop on April 8, 2004. The accused, 27, was nabbed then, ...
Bail decision riles police: Special prosecutor could review release of three suspected gang members
CITY COPS are angry three people they arrested on gang-related charges Friday are already back on the streets. One cop close to the case, who did not want his name revealed, said the situation has become a joke. "We can get these guys and charge them, but there's a problem somewhere between the police and the rest of the justice system," said the cop. "The people we arrested were already on court-imposed conditions - which we're alleging they breached - ...
Alleged gangster rearrested
The lawyer for an alleged high-ranking gang member already charged with eight weapons-related offences says he is mystified why his client is suddenly facing a new, unrelated weapons charge from more than two months ago. Pat Fagan said the accused, 27 - who was released on bail on the charges stemming from an April 8 incident after a loaded handgun was found in the vehicle in which he was a passenger - was rearrested Thursday. The accused was then charged ...
Judge upholds decision, releases alleged gangster
A judge has upheld a justice of the peace's decision to release an alleged gang member facing several weapons charges in connection with a Glock handgun found in a compartment under the seat of a vehicle he was driving. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Beth Hughes agreed with the justice of the peace during a Crown bail review of the accused release on April 9, saying "If I had heard the accused bail in the first place, I would not ...
Crown seeks alleged gangsters’ bail review
The Crown’s office will seek a review of bail granted on the weekend to three alleged gang members, each facing eight weapons charges, prosecutor Sue Kendall said Monday. “We have ordered, on an expedited basis, a copy of the transcripts of the bail hearing before the justice of the peace,” Kendall said outside provincial court following the men’s first appearances. Three accused between the ages of 20 and 27, were arrested at around 10 p.m. Friday after police surrounded a …