Mission pair acquitted on firearms charges

A couple has been acquitted of possessing a loaded firearm after a judge found their rights had been violated in connection with a police raid of a licensed marijuana grow-op in Mission.

Jeffery James Vanhorn and Tanya Christensen were jointly charged following a search of their residence in the 12700-block Carr Street in April 2013.

RCMP had received information from a medical clinic in Pitt Meadows questioning the authenticity of several applications made to Health Canada for authorization to produce, store and possess marijuana for medicinal purposes. Police came to believe that the applications for licences were fraudulent and the licences granted by Health Canada invalid.

Police obtained a search warrant and used a battering ram to enter the couple’s Mission home, where they found a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun as well as two bulletproof vests.

At trial, the accused argued that it was an unreasonable search and seizure and that the evidence seized by police should be thrown out.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten found that there were problems with a document police filed seeking approval for the search. She said that while there was no deliberate intent to mislead or withhold information in the so-called information-to-obtain, police over-estimated and perhaps misconstrued the strength and meaning of the material from the clinic.

The judge said police also drew inferences that were not objectively warranted in respect of Vanhorn’s medical marijuana licence and made a premature assumption that the licences in question would be revoked by Health Canada.

After finding that the search was “warrantless” and unreasonable in the circumstances, the judge considered whether the evidence seized by police should be disallowed. She concluded that the police had interfered with the accused’s right to a high degree of privacy in their home. “They forced entry into the residence of the accused using a battering ram; they conducted a search of both the residence and an outbuilding on the property; and, there were 10 to 12 police officers in attendance,” said the judge.

The RCMP had ample time to make inquiries they should have made to clarify the status of the three medical marijuana licences registered at the address, she said. Instead, police rushed to the conclusion that they were facing a “large scale, sophisticated marijuana grow operation.”

Noting that gun crimes pose a serious threat and that society has an interest in adjudicating cases on their merits, the judge said the court must also consider the long-term implications for the repute of the administration of justice in such cases.

“This is why there have been cases in which firearms have been excluded from evidence, notwithstanding the serious nature of the offences alleged to have been committed.”

The judge excluded the evidence, resulting in the acquittals. Drug charges laid against the couple were earlier set aside.