Charles blames friend for gun, cocaine in car
Adrian Charles denies knowing there was cocaine and a loaded handgun in his car when he was arrested by police on an outstanding warrant and says a friend later admitted the gun was his.
The former Saskatoon Hilltops star took the stand in his own defence at the conclusion of his trial on drug and firearms charges Thursday in Saskatoon provincial court. The charges relate to five grams of cocaine and a gun found in his car on Oct. 9, 2008.
He was arrested on a warrant relating to attempted murder charges in Ontario. Those charges were stayed by the Crown, but then Charles was charged in relation to the items found in his car. Charles was acquitted after a first trial, but the Crown successfully appealed and his second trial began Nov. 13.
Defence lawyer Brad Mitchell argued in November that the search of Charles’s car violated his charter rights, but on Thursday, Judge Marilyn Gray ruled the search was legal and the evidence admissible. The Crown closed its case and Charles took the stand.
Charles, 27, laid the blame for the gun on Duane Henwood, 31, a friend Charles dropped off downtown just minutes before the arrest. Charles claimed that when he was in Saskatoon for a court appearance, he met up with Henwood — the only time they talked since the arrest.
“He admitted it was his firearm,” Charles testified, adding he told Henwood, “I can’t take this charge. I have too much going for me.”
However, when Charles’s lawyer asked Henwood about those allegations earlier in the trial, Henwood denied ever having that conversation.
“He didn’t confront you, tell you that you needed to take responsibility for the gun and cocaine?” Mitchell asked Henwood.
“No,” Henwood testified in November.
Henwood also said he didn’t notice anything “out of the ordinary” inside Charles’s BMW, including with the floor mat. Police found the gun under the floor mat on the passenger side of the vehicle.
The Crown’s theory is that when Charles saw a police car pull up behind him, shortly after dropping Henwood off, Charles put the gun under the mat.
Charles testified that when police saw him lean over to the passenger side of the vehicle, he was getting his driver’s licence and registration from his glove compartment.
He said he didn’t know how the cocaine — in a black film canister — ended up under a cup holder in his car.
In closing arguments, Mitchell said Charles should be found not guilty because it’s equally reasonable to infer Henwood concealed the cocaine and gun in Charles’s car.
Judge Gray told Mitchell she was troubled by Charles’s story about the meeting with Henwood.
“I heard no evidence that information about Mr. Henwood confessing (to the possession of the gun) was ever relayed to police, to anyone, to act upon, and here we are, four years later,” Gray said.
Mitchell acknowledged the point, but said overall, Charles’s testimony was trustworthy and Henwood’s wasn’t.
Crown prosecutor Bryce Pashovitz took the opposite view, arguing Charles should have been able to recall many more details about that meeting with Henwood. Given the seriousness of the charges, the meeting “would have been burned in his memory,” Pashovitz argued.
Gray is scheduled to give her verdict on April 7.