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PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 10:40 pm
 


<strong>Title: </strong> <a href="/link.php?id=22989" target="_blank">Border search violated accused smuggler's rights: judge</a> (click to view)

<strong>Category:</strong> <a href="/news/topic/18-law--order" target="_blank">Law & Order</a>
<strong>Posted By: </strong> <a href="/modules.php?name=Your_Account&op=userinfo&username=ridenrain" target="_blank">ridenrain</a>
<strong>Date: </strong> 2007-07-16 18:36:20
<strong>Canadian</strong>


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 10:40 pm
 


So what side is this judge on? This sets up a huge precedence.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:12 pm
 


:|

His rights were violated?

Shit, notw everyone's going to start suing for their little fun time in the little Gaza Strip between Canada And America known as the costums...


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:19 pm
 


Expect the law to be changed soon. This won't be allowed to stand.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:25 pm
 


These laws were good enough for how long? Sometimes I wonder if these judges live in the real world or if they have another cause other than serving the people of Canada.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:29 pm
 


sewing the seeds chaos?


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:27 pm
 


$1:
Landmark warrant ruling stuns border guards
ROD MICKLEBURGH

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

July 18, 2007 at 4:38 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — Canadian border guards are stunned by a landmark Provincial Court ruling that they must obtain a warrant before thoroughly searching a suspicious vehicle.

"This is huge. I can't believe it. If this stands, we might just as well go out of business," Ron Moran, national president of the 10,000-member Custom Excise Union and a customs official for 27 years, said yesterday.

"Until this judgment, it would never even have crossed our minds to obtain a search warrant. It's just not part of what we're taught."

Mr. Moran was commenting on a little-noticed decision last week that acquitted a B.C. man of importing 50 kilograms of cocaine into Canada because the contraband was discovered by customs officials without a search warrant.

The ruling by Provincial Court Judge Ellen Gordon, believed to be the first of its kind, could have profound implications for border checks across the country.

"All of our current procedures are based on previous court rulings. This sets new ground," said Chris Williams, spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency, which is responsible for policing the border.

"The smuggling of cocaine is an ongoing concern. This judgment is something we are obviously concerned about."

Mr. Williams said the government has already filed an appeal, and, in the meantime, customs officials will not change the way they operate at the border.

The two border guards involved in the search testified that they had never before sought a search warrant to poke and prod through stopped vehicles. Nor did they even know how to go about it.

The case involved Ajitpal Singh Sekhon. In January, 2005, he was waved over for a check of his pickup truck at a small Fraser Valley border crossing by a veteran customs officer who thought Mr. Sekhon seemed nervous.

The driver's jaw was rigid, he held the steering wheel tightly, he failed to maintain good eye contact, and the more he was questioned, the tenser he became, the officer told the court.

By the time customs officials were finished, his vehicle had had several holes drilled into it, been towed to another border post near by, and dismantled. A hidden compartment was discovered with 50 kilograms of cocaine inside.

Judge Gordon ruled the search unconstitutional because it was conducted without judicial authorization.

"A warrantless dismantling can be described only as a search carried out in an unreasonable manner," she said.

The judge concluded that border officials further violated Mr. Sekhon's Charter rights when they prevented him from leaving early on in their search and did not allow him to contact a lawyer until they had discovered traces of cocaine.

The presiding officer mistakenly believed she could hold anyone "in a form of custody for as long as she wishes without advising that person that he or she ... has a right to retain and instruct counsel," Judge Gordon said.

She said that those on duty at the time appeared to believe that the border is a Charter-free zone. "It isn't."

They committed three serious breaches of the Charter, the judge decided. "The evidence of the seized cocaine must therefore be excluded."

Larry Myers, who argued the case on behalf of Mr. Sekhon, called the ruling a victory for democratic rights.

"We have these rights, and we must not give them up, even if, at times, it's a little inconvenient and a little cumbersome and the odd guy with some drugs goes free," he said.

"Parliament has decided that we have a Charter, and that Charter must be enforced. It's the rule of law."

It's no big deal to obtain a search warrant," Mr. Myers added. "You can get a [telephone] warrant in four or five minutes."

While the precise impact of the Provincial Court decision remains to be determined, Mr. Myers said he does not think customs officers will now need search warrants for simpler procedures such as checking car trunks and back seats for undeclared goods.

In her ruling, Judge Gordon said there is a difference between having "reasonable grounds" for searching a vehicle at the border and "a lucky hunch," which she said prompted the guard's initial decision to have the truck gone over.

Mr. Moran of the Customs Excise Union said the ruling appears to change the status of border guards as "the only law enforcers who can search people without a warrant."


What's the chances the government can simply overrule this judges ruling as the ranting of a delusional drunkard?


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:02 pm
 


This isn't the Honorable judges first major f^#kup. Here's a link that shows even the Provincial Government was pissed at her decision making ability.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/p ... PrintStory


All this crap about her makes me wonder if she wasn't the judge that threw out the case against the Hells Angels because of what she claimed to be charter violations.

Either way she should be removed from the bench immediately. It's quite apparent that she is either delusional, deranged or just plain nucking futz!!!!!


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:35 pm
 


Good find!! Dosen't look like any connections but stupid is as stupid does though.

The judge that threw out the last hells angels drug possession trial because "no one would be that stupid" then had to apologise for swearing was a guy, so it must have been another retarded judge or another sfaulty case.


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:41 pm
 


Geez I thought Canadian border guards had more power to protect our border.

I hope Harper makes some quick changes to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which allow border guards 1. to wear guns and 2. search when needed, for guns, "BOMBS!!"

If this guy was bringing anything other than cocaine, such as a lethal virus strain for a terrorist attack by what Justice Ellen Gordon ruled he would be off scott free? I'm I wrong??


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:52 pm
 


I doubt that he's get to keep his bio-toxin, fissionable material or drugs, even if he was freed.

Then again, I posted a story about Chinese containers full of counterfeit presctription drugs, food and consumer products that customs says is outside their job to halt. I wonder if Canada or the US keep any statistics on how many people die because of counterfeit drugs. By volume, it might be more dangerous than the cocane.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:26 pm
 


rideatrain who thinks racial profiling is a good thing thinks all non whites should be detained and have their vehicles searched top to bottom with no grounds to do so then if nothing is found, stripped searched


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:36 pm
 


Baylee/Segement/Ladybug
$1:
rideatrain who thinks racial profiling is a good thing thinks all non whites should be detained and have their vehicles searched top to bottom with no grounds to do so then if nothing is found, stripped searched


Now, now. Be nice! Just because your supply dried up.......

HOCKEY PUCK :roll:


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:18 pm
 


Justice Gordon is a benighted fool, and a perfect example of what's wrong with the Canadian judiciary.

I would say, on balance, that we here in Canada enjoy a pretty decent justice system. One of the best in the world.

Corruption amongst police and judicial staff is almost non-existent, decisions offered by judges are usually well-thought-out and political considerations usually take a back seat to judicial ones.

That said, there is room for improvement.

There are many judges on the bench who are completely out of touch with reality.

This fool in BC is one. Catherine Hawk in Toronto is another.

This idiotic decision will be appealed, and no doubt, overturned.

But how many decisions by this ill-informed moron, Justice Gordon, are allowed to stand?

There needs to be more accountability amongst members of the bench. The US system of electing them would probably be going too far, but there should be some mechanism for reviewing judge appointments.

Perhaps an automatic employment review for all judges whose decisions are subject to an unusually high number of appeals would be an idea.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:46 pm
 


Not positive for Canada but in the US that would have had to been the Judges ruleing. They had the man detained and did not get his permission to search the Vehicle.

In this case they did violate the mans rights.... Occording to US law. I'm assumeing Canadian is simmular.


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