Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (Jan 30/06) - A Fort Smith man convicted of wasting meat in 2004 will get a new trial.

Michael Beaver was charged after wildlife officers discovered three bags of meat in a shed on his property.

Beaver, who represented himself at the trial in Justice of the Peace court, appealed the conviction. At the time, he was fined $500.

In a decision handed down earlier this month, NWT Supreme Court Justice Virginia Schuler said the search and seizure were unreasonable and infringed on Beaver's rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"The evidence on the record does give rise to the concern that they conducted an unauthorized search," Schuler wrote in her six-page decision.

"The appropriate remedy would be a new trial."

Beaver's lawyer, Bradley Enge, said a new trial depends on the Crown which must lay a new charge.

"If they re-lay the charges and start all over again, Mr. Beaver will be entitled to raise all the Charter arguments," Enge said.