Image Credit: Vernon Matters

By Glynn Brothen / Vernon Matters

Defence Challenging Arrest

Previous incidents with escorts led police to suspect Sagmoen in masked attack

Dec 11, 2019 | 4:21 PM

VERNON, B.C. — It’s still uncertain whether the scheduled trial of Curtis Sagmoen, 38, will proceed this week as legal challenges on evidence admissibility continue from the defence.

Sagmoen faces five charges in relation to an incident where he allegedly threatened a sex worker with a gun in August 2017 in rural Falkland. Sagmoen is charged with intentionally discharging a firearm, wearing a mask during the offence, being reckless to the life and safety of another person, use of a firearm while threatening the complainant, and uttering threats.

Whether police had reasonable grounds to arrest the accused or if the search of his truck violated his Charter rights is the latest topic of the trial’s voir dire (submissions on evidence admissibility) in Vernon Supreme Court before Justice Alison Beames.

Wednesday’s hearing comes on the heels of two previous challenges from the defence.

On Monday, Justice Beames ruled the police warrant and search of the property where Sagmoen lived with his parents was legal. In September, Beames upheld the legality of the statement Sagmoen provided to police.

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Part of the defence’s current challenge focuses on witness statements police took and whether those were sufficient to identify him as the suspect.

Under Crown questioning, Vernon RCMP Const. Richard MacQueen said a witness told him “someone has been ordering escorts and not paying for them” in the area and they heard that person was named Curtis.

Other witnesses said they noticed an increased amount of traffic and younger scantily clad women in the rural area.

After running the Sagmoen property address through an RCMP database, MacQueen said he found two past police interactions tied to the accused’s name. In one interaction Sagmoen was the complainant. In another, he was the subject of the police complaint. Both files involved an escort.

He said the accused’s history of soliciting sex workers led police to believe he was the suspect in their current investigation.

Sagmoen was arrested in a traffic stop Sept. 5, 2017 after a police surveillance unit located him driving his mother’s truck near Falkland.

Today, defence counsel Lisa Jean Helps cross-examined Cpl. Dan Pollock. She questioned why he searched Sagmoen’s vehicle roadside following the arrest and did not obtain a search warrant.

Pollock said he saw a phone on the centre console of the truck, which was central to the police investigation of the incident. But when he tried to open the truck door, the keys were locked inside.

“I was concerned that was an evasive technique,” Pollock said. He said rather than force entry into the truck by breaking a window, Sagmoen offered his mother could provide a spare set of keys.

If the accused told him where the keys were, it’s fair to say it’s not an evasive move, Helps said.

Pollock said he decided to search the vehicle without a warrant, citing ‘exigent circumstances’ —an exception to the need for a warrant, in this case to preserve evidence.

“It was my decision to search incidental to arrest,” Pollock said, adding police had to work quickly to meet the time demand. He said he was worried the evidence on the phone was perishable, or could be deleted remotely. Police also believed there may be a second phone in the vehicle as the complainant received texts from two different numbers directing her to the property.

“It’s our training to secure phones as quickly as possible,” Pollock said.

Helps questioned whether it was likely the information on the phone could be erased remotely as Sagmoen was in custody. She said it was unlikely if the accused could contact anyone to remotely erase the phone, because he was only allowed to phone his lawyer after he was arrested.

“It’s fair to say once someone is in custody, he wouldn’t have access to equipment that could wipe the phone,” Helps said.

While the trial was initially scheduled to begin in September, the evidence challenges have pushed the case back. Justice Beames expressed her frustration with the pace of the proceedings and suggested to both Crown and defence to have submissions ready by the end of the week.

If Justice Beames determines Sagmoen’s arrest was illegal, all evidence stemming from it would be tossed from the case.

Following Sagmoen’s arrest, police obtained a search warrant for the property where he lived with his parents. During the search, police discovered the remains of missing Vernon teenager Traci Genereaux. Sagmoen has not been charged with her death, nor named as a suspect.