The number of people arrested on drug charges caused an uncommon and confusing court session over the weekend, but that might be just the beginning
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Nov 20/00) - The initial repercussions of mass arrests resulting from a Yellowknife RCMP drug investigation are already hitting the court system hard.
Justice of the peace court was held Saturday in Yellowknife in an uncommon attempt to accommodate the bulk of accused persons facing drug charges in the city.
It was a long and tiresome day for court workers, justices and lawyers, as well as the public who attended. At least three private citizens were there to note the names of the accused and their alleged criminal activity.
Justice of the peace Beatrice Lepine, accompanied by justice of the peace Sheila Leonardis, thanked those involved for their patience.
"I know it was a marathon session," she said.
Of the over 70 people arrested in an RCMP raid beginning Wednesday in Yellowknife, on charges of drug trafficking, conspiracy to traffic, possession, weapons offenses and breaches of undertakings, 25 were in court Saturday.
Most were adjourned to court sessions within the next two weeks by their consent but of the eight show cause hearings that went ahead, five people were released and three detained. Two person's charges were withdrawn.
Defence lawyer James Brydon wound up assisting several of the accused when a miscommunication left him the only defence lawyer available mid-afternoon.
He said the initial repercussions of the multiple arrests are already being felt.
"The thing that upsets me is that the police feel free to arrest masses of people and release them later," he said.
"You've done more than take their liberty away, you've humiliated them."
Upon viewing the amount of material and evidence he was able to Saturday, Brydon said he is unable to guess the amount of convictions that are likely to come of the year-long drug investigation code named Operation Guiness.
Although there was a publication ban on evidence submitted at the show cause hearings, Brydon told the court his opinion on some of it.
While assisting at least two clients, he said there was questionable material to warrant convictions even though the show cause hearing only determines if the accused should be released into society or be detained in police custody.
"In these things invariably some people are guilty and are going to plead guilty, some people will have trials and be convicted and some people will have trials and be acquitted," he said. "Some charges will be withdrawn.
"Based on what I know this will cost the system between one and three million dollars."
Brydon also expressed concern over the crackdown actually making as big an impact on the drug trade as many might think.
"I would guess they probably just raised the price for a couple of weeks," he said, and added, "If 70 people are involved in selling drugs what's the market place? If, say, they have 40 customers each ... that's roughly 15 per cent of the population, that should give everyone pause when picking juries."
