Letter of Support from the Princeton RCMP
COURT NEWS - August 14 & 15, 2008
LOCAL MAN LOSES HIS LICENSE
Princeton resident Kelly Herrick appeared in Provincial Court in Princeton on August 14 to plead guilty to driving without due care and attention.
Herrick was apprehended on April 22 when a police officer saw a red pick-up turn erratically and then drive 60 kmph in a 30 kmph zone. When the officer pulled the vehicle over, he noted signs of impairment and arrested Herrick for impaired driving.
The impaired charge was dropped and Herrick pled guilty to driving without due care and attention under section 144 of the provincial Motor Vehicle Act.
This charge carries a reduced penalty.
Due to the fact that Herrick continued to accelerate after being followed by police, Crown Counsel asked for a high fine. Herrick was ordered to pay $2,000 and is prohibited from driving for three months.
JOY RIDE BRINGS PENALTY
A vehicle theft described as a "joy ride type" brought Ryan Patt to Provincial Court in Princeton on August 14. Patt entered a guilty plea to a charge of possession of stolen property. He was a passenger in the vehicle and did not know it was stolen until the driver told him.
The theft occurred in Hedley on April 6, when Patt and the driver took the vehicle on the road to Princeton. They were apprehended after a local resident helped remove the vehicle from an obstruction on which it was stuck.
The 18 year old Chilliwack resident had no prior convictions, and was ordered to serve 12 months probation. He must pay the vehicle owner $200 for damages. Patt must serve 24 hours of community service work and write a letter of apology to the vehicle owner.
MAN PLEADS GUILTY
A 36 year old Ladysmith, B.C. resident, Larry Phillips, appeared in Provincial Court in Princeton on August 14 to plead guilty to a charge of driving without due care and attention under the provincial Motor Vehicle Act. The was a reduced penalty charge substituted for an impaired driving charge under the Canada Criminal Code.
Phillips was apprehended in September 2007 when a police officer saw a vehicle turn off the highway without signalling. The officer followed and pulled over the vehicle, and noted the driver had signs of impairment.
Philips was ordered to pay a $600 fine and is prohibited from driving for three months.
MORTICIAN ARRAIGNED
After months of court proceedings and a change in lawyers, Frederick W. Netherton was arraigned in Provincial Court in Princeton on August 14.
Netherton elected trial by Supreme Court judge. On August 20, in Penticton, a date will be set for a preliminary inquiry into the evidence supporting the 38 charges against Netherton, a former Princeton mortician.
He is charged with fraud, interference with a dead body, and neglecting to perform duties related to burial.
CROWN FAILS TO PROVE CASE
An interesting trial took place in Provincial Court in Princeton on August 15. Borna Ashari, of Vancouver, had been charged with possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) when stopped in a routine road check in Princeton on August 2, 2007.
Two RCMP witnesses presented evidence for the Crown. The first officer described spotting a car at a local gas station and running the licence number. He found there had been a level 2 vehicle inspection order with which the owner had not complied. The car left the gas station, and police followed and pulled it over.
When the officers went to the car to talk to the driver, both noted a strong odour of "green" marijuana
coming from the interior of the car. The four occupants were asked to leave the car and were arrested. The first officer dealt with the occupants, while the second officer conducted a search. The second officer found a baggie containing a substance he believed to be cocaine.
Ashari, the driver, said the cocaine was his for personal use. He asked for leniency, as he is a university student with hopes of becoming a lawyer.
The second officer testified he had taken the baggie with 1.5 grams of the substance to the RCMP station in Keremeos and placed it in an evidence locker. He related how it had been sent to a laboratory in New Westminster where an analyst filed a report that the substance was cocaine and returned the envelope and the report to Keremeos. He failed to give an identifiying number of the evidence envelope nor produce the envelope as an exhibit in court.
To further complicate the evidence, the second officer testified he had found an expired driver's licence with the baggie and had recorded the licence owner as "Eshari". Later, he changed it to "Ashari" in his notes, because he thought he had made a spelling error, but did not inform Crown Counsel of the change, nor any reason for it. As well, he had not retained the expired licence nor made a photocopy of it.
Judge Wilf Klinger stated the Crown had not proven continuity of the handing of the evidence, nor had provided the evidence. Judge Klinger further found the change of spelling in the officer's notes was not a "full and proper disclosure" to Crown.
Judge Klinger dismissed the charges.
Province of British Columbia Criminal Court Lists
