Image Credit: Vernon Matters

By Glynn Brothen / Vernon Matters

Court Challenges

Defence argues arrest of Sagmoen violated Charter rights

Dec 11, 2019 | 9:11 AM

VERNON, B.C. — Whether or not officers had reasonable grounds to arrest a man suspected of threatening a sex worker with a gun is the latest challenge filed by his lawyer.

Curtis Sagmoen, 38, appeared in Vernon Supreme Court today for a voir dire hearing before Justice Alison Beames in relation to his five charges stemming from the August 2017 incident in rural Falkland. Sagmoen is charged with masking his face with intent to commit an indictable offence, intentionally discharging a firearm, being reckless to the life and safety of another person, use of a firearm while threatening the complainant, and uttering threats.

Police became aware of the incident after a woman filed a police report saying she attended a rural property to meet a man she texted. When she arrived, her vehicle tire was shot out and she fled from the area on foot for hours until she reached the highway.

Following the incident, the RCMP’s General Investigative Section assumed the investigation. Sgt. David Evans said on the day of Sagmoen’s arrest, he met with a staff sergeant and corporal to review their grounds to arrest.

To support the arrest, Evans said he and fellow officers cited reports from neighbours about previous incidents the accused had with escorts, a review of the complainant’s phone and text messages she exchanged with the accused, and that Sagmoen fit the description she provided.

Looped In

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: December 12, 2024

1h ago

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: North Shore BIA working hard to develop a 'happening place'

7h ago

1000 Ways to Heal

1000 Ways to Heal: Moons

Dec 10, 2024

Evans said the two other officers provided him with a photograph sourced from local media that showed Sagmoen wearing sunglasses. There were no other photos presented at the meeting, Evans said.

“When those grounds were explained to me, I believed they were reasonable grounds to arrest,” Evans said.

Defence counsel Lisa Jean Helps questioned if Evans independently verified the grounds for arrest or supporting evidence. She addressed the photo and questioned if Evans searched for other images of the accused, including any pictures from internal government sources, such as the accused’s licence.

“They told me that’s who it was,” Evans said. “It was the only photograph we had of the suspect.”

Helps suggested seizing Sagmoen’s phone was a “key focus” of the meeting and made several inquiries about police ensuring the accused was in possession of the device when he was arrested.

“There was not an over focus on the phone,” Evans said. He said in the meeting he was told arresting officers would seize Sagmoen’s cellphone, if in plain view, and would obtain a search warrant to search the vehicle.

Under chief examination from Crown prosecutor Simone McCallum, Evans testified he and others in the meeting discussed arresting Sagmoen in a traffic stop away from the rural property where he lived.

Evans said preservation of evidence was key, as investigators worried Sagmoen could destroy evidence if he were arrested at his home. Safety concerns were also cited given the alleged offence included a firearm.

“We believed that was the safest way to take custody,” Evans said. He added if Sagmoen’s arrest were at home it would require the Emergency Response Team to attend, as he was accused of possessing a firearm.

Evans and three members of the team surveilled the Sagmoen property and watched for vehicles known to be registered at that address.

An undercover officer alerted fellow members of the surveillance team that the pickup truck normally driven by Sagmoen’s mother was spotted in the area. When a uniformed officer pulled over the truck, Sagmoen was driving.

Cpl. Dan Pollock, with the GIS team, also assisted in the arrest.

“I was confident we had Mr. Sagmoen,” he said, adding the accused responded to being called Curtis. Pollock said he asked Sagmoen to pronounce his last name for him, which he did. The corporal said the accused looked like the man in the same photo both he and Evans viewed.

After an arrest script was read out loud, Pollock said Sagmoen requested legal counsel which he received roadside.

Once the accused was detained, officers went to grab a cellphone within view when they noticed the keys to the vehicle were locked inside.

Pollock said he felt he had reasonable grounds to search the vehicle without a warrant as it was incidental to Sagmoen’s arrest. He said given the phone was within plain view, he felt they were within grounds to seize it.

Pollock said obtaining the phone was important as at that point officers did not know conclusively whether or not the phone number the complainant texted the night of the alleged offence was connected to Sagmoen.

Evans said officers did not obtain a warrant to search the vehicle as there were exigent circumstances, or concerns, that evidence needed to be preserved.

Officers accessed the vehicle after obtaining a spare set of keys from Sagmoen’s mother. The phone was seized, including clothing that matched the description provided by the complainant and a firearm.

The current voir dire is one of several challenges made by the defence prior to trial. If Justice Beames determines the arrest violated Sagmoen’s Charter rights, all subsequent evidence —including the evidence seized in the vehicle search— would be excluded from trial. Beames’ decision is expected tomorrow with the trial to follow in the afternoon.

The arrest also triggered a search of his Sagmoen property where officers located the remains of missing Vernon teenager, Traci Genereaux. Sagmoen has not been named as a suspect and no charges have been laid in that investigation.