B.C. high court rejects acquittal of Vernon man in dial-a-dope case
VANCOUVER — The B.C. Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for a Vernon, B.C., man acquitted of drug charges after a lower court threw out a key search warrant.
The decision written by Chief Justice Robert Bauman sets aside the acquittal of Christopher Loewen and orders a new trial on charges of possession of cocaine, heroin and marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Those charges were dismissed in January 2015 when a provincial court judge in Vernon rejected a warrant that led to the seizure of drugs, cash and other evidence vital to the case against an alleged dial-a-dope operation.
The unanimous decision by three Court of Appeal justices finds Judge Mayland McKimm was wrong to reject the warrant for what he considered a lack of “independently verifiable information” and “bald unsupported assertions.”