Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 13/01) - The territorial Court of Appeal has ruled that a territorial court judge acted too hastily last February when he ignored a joint submission by the Crown and defence.
In a unanimous decision handed down last Friday, the court ruled that Judge Brian Bruser did not give "counsel the opportunity to explain the basis for the joint submission."
Judge Brian Bruser decided to impose an 18-month sentence on Douglas Knutson, rejecting a nine-month sentencing agreement.
Knutson was arrested during last year's Operation Guiness sting. A search of his home uncovered almost one and a half kilograms of marijuana and over $15,000 in Canadian and U.S. currency.
He pleaded guilty in February to one count of trafficking marijuana and one of possession for the purpose of trafficking. In sentencing Knutson, Bruser called the 43-year-old man's Old Town home a "distributorship or wholesale warehouse for the sale of marijuana."
The Court of Appeal reduced Knutson's sentence to time served.
He had been serving his sentence since Feb. 14, and was in remand prior to that since Nov. 15.
