Man acquitted of some drug charges, convicted of another

Judge criticizes RCMP investigator while delivering verdict

A man on trial for marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy charges was acquitted — for the second time — of some of them Thursday, with the judge blasting an RCMP corporal for faults in his investigation.

Judge James Walsh acquitted Stephen Parsley, 30, of possessing ecstasy and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking it, but convicted him on a charge of possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

In May 2014, police obtained a warrant to search a home and sheds on Empire Avenue, where it was believed Parsley was living, though his brother testified it was actually he who was living there with two roommates, and Parsley had moved out seven months earlier.

He said Parsley maintained access to at least one of the sheds.

With help of a detection dog, officers located drugs in plastic bags and duffel bags in three locations in one of the two sheds, with the cocaine and ecstasy in a bag on the seat of a side-by-side utility terrain vehicle.

Parsley’s fingerprints were recovered from two vacuumsealed bags of marijuana. There was almost five pounds of cocaine, 13 grams of ecstasy and about 48 pounds of marijuana.

Parsley was originally acquitted of all charges last year, after a different judge ruled the grounds to obtain the warrant to search the property weren’t sufficient.

In June 2017, his acquittal was overturned on appeal and a new trial was ordered.

Parsley’s lawyer, Erin Breen, challenged the integrity of the fingerprint evidence, suggesting a box containing the bagged drugs had been improperly stored and tampered with sometime between St. John’s and Corner Brook, where police brought it for examination.

Inventory sheets revealed there was one less bag counted in Corner Brook than in St. John’s.

“While the handling (of the box) has flaws, I have no evidence before me that there was any tampering with the evidence upon which Mr. Parsley’s fingerprints were found.

“I’m not prepared to speculate that tampering occurred,” Walsh said.

“There is evidence before me of a simple clerical error in the inventory. I’ve no evidence before me that the exhibits’ integrity has been compromised.”

Regarding the cocaine and ecstasy, Walsh continued the castigation of RCMP Cpl. Lee Lush that he had begun during the trial in December.

Walsh said Lush, who was lead investigator in the case and is no longer stationed in this province, had “tunnel vision” about Parsley’s guilt.

Walsh’s main concerns were that Lush had asked Parsley’s grandmother to call Parsley to come and open the sheds, instead of asking her if she had keys — suggesting Lush wanted Parsley at the scene — and that Lush never pursued the registered owner of the utility terrain vehicle as a suspect, even though police had identified the person. When asked at trial why police didn’t investigate the utility terrain vehicle owner, Lush didn’t have an answer.

“It’s quite concerning to me that Cpl. Lush failed to ask … the grandmother, who resides next door, if she had keys to the house and outbuildings prior to contacting the accused; that he failed to take a statement from her; that he failed to interview the accused’s brother or the accused’s uncle, who resided with (her); that he failed to interview (Parsley’s brother’s) two roommates about their access to the outbuildings; that he failed to interview the owner of the all-terrain vehicle to determine why it was in Mr. Parsley’s shed, when it was placed there, how the bag in the front seat had gotten there and who owned it,” Walsh said.

He criticized what he called Lush’s “cavalier” handling of the case.

“I was shocked that (Lush) refused to explore the ownership of the ATV and query the registered owner’s knowledge of the backpack,” he continued later, reading from a written verdict.

“I can only conclude that he did so due to his singular focus and tunnel vision on Mr. Parsley as the only target and the only suspect.

“I’m quite surprised at his lack of insight into how this investigation was so closeminded, even when pointed out to him that Mr. Parsley was not a resident of (the Empire Avenue home). It’s my hope that this will be addressed with (Lush) in the future.”

Parsley’s case will be called again April 26, when a date will be set for his sentencing on the marijuana conviction.