FIVE-YEAR LEGAL SAGA ENDS
Lawyer acquitted of smuggling drugs into jail
Deryk Gravesande welcomes the ruling in his retrial. The Toronto lawyer was accused of bringing marijuana to his client at the Don Jail in 2012.
A legal battle that lasted nearly five years and outraged the city’s criminal defence bar came to a close Wednesday when Toronto lawyer Deryk Gravesande was acquitted of smuggling marijuana to a former client in jail.
Courtroom spectators, many of them lawyers, whispered “yes” when Ontario Court Justice Jonathan Brunet — brought in from Ottawa — found Gravesande not guilty of drug trafficking. In a lengthy ruling, he said the Crown’s case was “well short of the criminal standard of proof.”
The decision stood in stark contrast to that of a different judge — Wayne Rabley, from London — who found Gravesande guilty of the same offence in 2014. Rabley’s verdict was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2015, leading to the second trial before Brunet that began last week.
“Today’s acquittal is a just and appropriate outcome. This has been a long ordeal for Mr. Gravesande and he is glad it is finally over,” said his lawyer, Scott Hutchison.
A lawyer for more than two decades, Gravesande had been accused of smuggling 58 grams of marijuana in eight cellophane-wrapped packages as well as a parcel of lidocaine, some rolled marijuana cigarettes and a piece of cellophane with lubricant on it to a former client, Joacquin Rowe, when he visited him at the Toronto (Don) Jail in January 2012.
Gravesande, who denied on the stand that he supplied the drugs, was sentenced to two years in prison by Rabley in 2014, although he was granted bail pending his appeal. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal lambasted Rabley’s reasoning in overturning the conviction.
They pointed out that the correctional officers admitted that they did not follow proper protocols for searching the interview room and Rowe prior to the prisoner speaking with Gravesande.
The top court noted that a guard briefly handled Rowe’s jumpsuit before the visit, instead of conducting what should have been a thorough strip search.
After Gravesande’s visit, Rowe was searched again and the guards said they found a black sock containing the drugs inside his underwear.
Michael Lacy, vice-president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA), said Wednesday’s ruling was a vindication for Gravesande, but said the CLA questions why the Crown chose to proceed with a second trial given the strong rebuke delivered by the Court of Appeal.
“In the face of a questionable case, maybe they thought it was important that they send a message to the public that they’ll prosecute lawyers and other participants in the administration of criminal justice, no matter how flimsy (the case) may be,” he said.