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Court briefs Yk doctor not guilty Laura Busch Northern News Services Published Friday, February 10, 2012
As reported in the Jan. 20 edition of Yellowknifer, Dr. Richard Cunningham was in court to answer to a charge of breaching a no-contact order. The case, stemming from an alleged incident in May 2011, wrapped up Jan. 20 after Judge Garth Malakoe declared Cunningham not guilty. Yellowknifer has been reporting on Cunningham's charges and court cases in recent years because he holds a position of trust. Men accused of robbery appear in court Sean Qitsualik and Brent Michael, both accused of robbery and wearing a mask while committing an indictable offence, appeared in court together Tuesday. Qitsualik had previously pleaded not guilty to all four counts relating to the Dec. 3 alleged incidents involving two separate cab drivers. He elected to be tried in NWT Supreme Court by judge and jury. Michael elected Tuesday to have the same type of trial, though he opted not to enter a plea until next week so that he could consult his lawyer. Michael is scheduled to enter a plea Feb. 14 via video. The co-accuseds are scheduled to be tried together. A preliminary inquiry is set to take place June 27 to 29 to determine whether or not the case will actually go to trial. Drug possession costs man $1,000 A 28-year-old Yellowknife man pleaded guilty to a drug possession charge Tuesday and was given a $1,000 fine by Judge Garth Malakoe. Original charges laid in the case involved possession and possession of marijuana with intent to traffic, but the Crown dropped the latter charge in exchange for the guilty plea. On Dec. 22, an RCMP officer was participating in a holiday traffic stop on Highway 4 when he pulled over a 2012 Ford Focus. While speaking with the driver, the officer noticed the passenger in the backseat moving around. Upon shining his flashlight on the suspect, the officer observed that he was pulling two bags of marijuana in and out of his pocket. A further search revealed a pocket scale and two other bags of the drug, totaling 49.9 grams, which has a street value between $500 and $1,000. This was the offender's second conviction for possession in the last six months. For his first offence, the man was charged $360. "The fact is, this is a prohibited substance," Crown prosecutor Glen Boyd told the court. "(He) is not getting the message." While Malakoe expressed concerns about the pocket scale and about the fact that the offender, who is currently unemployed, owns a $500 Blackberry, he did say that an early guilty plea helped the offender's case. While the Crown was asking for an $1,800 fine to deter the man from reoffending, Malakoe set the fine at $1,000 to be paid within six months. "You're getting close to the line on this kind of stuff," Malakoe told the offender. "If you're caught again, you're getting into the area of going to jail." Fish seller gets a lawyer A Yellowknife commercial fisherman and business owner accused of eight counts under the Fisheries Act was back in court this week - this time with a defence lawyer. Commercial fisherman Brian Abbott, owner/operator of Great Slave Fish Products Ltd. on Jolliffe Island, has hired Yellowknife lawyer Tom Boyd. When he appeared in court last on Jan. 10, the case was delayed so that he could find appropriate representation. Boyd asked the court to delay the case again until April 10 because it would give him and the Crown time to see if they could reach a resolution on the case, or if the matter was likely to go to trial. Both the Crown and the judge agreed to the requested court date. Abbott is charged with fishing without proper registration; failing to properly fill out logbooks; fishing in a restricted area; leaving a gill net in the water for more than 30 hours; fishing with improperly marked gill nets; possessing fish caught in contravention of the Fisheries Act; and trading in muktuk. The estimated $30,000 worth of fish confiscated in a raid by RCMP and fisheries officers remains in storage, awaiting a judge's ruling on whether it will be returned or forfeited to the Crown.
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