Drug bust suspects include man acquitted in controversial trials

A man twice acquitted in two controversial sexual assault trials has been swept up in a recent drug bust by Calgary police.

Alexander Scott Wagar, 30, was one of six suspects arrested earlier this month in a joint operation between district patrol members and the CPS strategic enforcement unit.

He was acquitted in September 2014 in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a woman on Dec. 13, 2011, but a new trial was ordered by the Alberta Court of Appeal due to controversial comments made during proceedings by former provincial court Judge Robin Camp.

Referring to her as “the accused” throughout the trial, Camp suggested the woman should have fought off Wagar’s alleged sexual advances, and asked her “why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?”

The comments were enough to order a new trial, the appeal judge suggesting Camp misunderstood how the law applied to sexual assaults and the meaning of consent.

Wagar was again found not guilty last January.

While Camp resigned as a judge in the wake of the controversy, he’s since applied to the Law Society of Alberta to be reinstated as a lawyer.

This month’s operation targeted an increase in social disorder complaints in the Westbrook area, including street-level drug trafficking, trespassing and assaults.

Charges of methamphetamine trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime have been laid against Darcy Lightfoot, 38, Robert Danails, 38, Tyleena Brittany Dixon, 23, Jasper Leif Dixon, 37, and Vanessa Ida Bearhat, 47.

Anybody with information is asked to call police at 403-2661234, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-TIPS.