Court briefs
Remaining gang suspects want bail
Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 25, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Two of the four gang suspects charged with drug trafficking are still waiting for their bail hearings.
Cody Gold, 22 of Langley, B.C., and Steven Ormrod, 29 of Yellowknife, have been in custody since RCMP raided a Kam Lake home on Oct. 2. Inside, police found large amounts of marijuana, cocaine, cash, loose gems and guns.
Christopher Davies, 30 and Irene LaHay, 50, also of Langley, B.C., were in the home during the raid. They were arrested and charged with drug trafficking, but released on bail two weeks ago.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Bond said she's still waiting for disclosure on all of the cases. Ormrod could have his bail hearing as early as today, but Gold's matter was adjourned until Oct. 29.
Bond was able to file 33 new charges against Ormrod on Tuesday, mostly weapons offences.
Ormrod now faces two counts of drug trafficking, two counts of possession of stolen property, one count of possessing a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, two counts of possessing a stolen firearm, 13 counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm and 13 counts of careless use of a firearm.
Davies and LaHay are scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 26 on their two drug trafficking charges.
Heftier fine for fighting ticket
A man who enlisted an ex-bylaw officer to help him fight a speeding ticket has been fined twice the value of his original ticket after disputing it in court.
John Williston was found guilty in justice of the peace court on Tuesday and ordered to pay a $150 fine- double the amount of his original $75 ticket.
A bylaw officer ticketed Williston for going 68 km/h in a 45 km/h zone on Old Airport Road in June. As he was handed the ticket, Williston vowed to fight it in court.
"I have no time of day for city bylaw," Williston told the officer through his window, as seen in a video of the incident. "City bylaw is a joke."
Former bylaw officer Doug Norrad, who also happens to be suing the city for $770,000 for wrongful dismissal, offered to help Williston fight his ticket. In traffic court, he argued city bylaw officers don't follow proper technical procedures with their radar devices.
The city fought back, using its lawyer, Kerry Penney. She successfully argued the city bylaw officers were qualified on the devices and Williston should be charged for speeding.
After deliberating for two weeks, justice of the peace Kevin Dennis not only found Williston guilty, he increased his original fine two-fold.
In an e-mail to Yellowknifer, Penney explained the bumped up fine: "If he had not disputed, the ticket he could have paid the $75 fine and that would have been the end of it."
Alleged drug traffickers wait for trial
Two Yellowknifers arrested last summer and charged with cocaine and marijuana trafficking will need to wait for their trial.
Rusty Landry, 26, and Craig Dryneck, 24, appeared in Yellowknife territorial court on Tuesday. Their lawyer said he's still waiting for disclosure from the Crown on the matter before he proceeds.
Dryneck and Landry were each charged with two counts of drug trafficking after police found more than two kilograms of marijuana and 10 rocks of crack cocaine. The arrests were made after RCMP raided residences at Sunridge Apartments on 51A Avenue in June.
Police also found large amounts of cash, multiple cellphones, a pair of brass knuckles and drug paraphernalia.
The Crown dropped one of the trafficking charges against Dryneck. His lawyer put his next court date to Nov. 19. Landry, still charged with two trafficking offences, will be in court again on Nov. 5. Both men are free on bail.
