B.C.’s Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal from a man convicted in a dial-a-dope operation selling fentanyl and heroin.
Sung Hwan Choi was convicted of possession of fentanyl and heroin for the purpose of trafficking.
Choi and Dawn Bobbie Larson were charged after Vernon police investigation into a drug-supply chain for street-level drug traffickers.
“They were jointly selling drugs in a street level dial-a-dope operation,” Vernon Provincial Court of B.C. Judge Jeremy Guild ruled in May 2019.
Both were convicted. Choi was sentenced to 18 months in jail and a year probation.
“Vernon and Kelowna have a higher per-capita illicit drug overdose death rate than Surrey, a large city with a well-known significant addicted population,” Guild ruled. “The statistics highlight the local problem, and the need for deterrence.”
In October 2017, police found a bag on Choi that the appeal court decision said contained 44 colour-coded packages of cocaine, methamphetamine and a heroin and fentanyl mixture, known as a ‘dealer pack.’
That evidence was excluded from trial.
“His Charter rights were violated and the majority of drugs were excluded from trial as against him,” Guild said.
Also seized was a package containing a 0.29-gram mixture of heroin and fentanyl, a package police saw between Choi’s legs in a car. That evidence was included at trial.
Choi’s defence argued there was no connection between one officer seeing such a package and another officer seizing it as evidence.
The appeal court rejected that argument.
Mr. Choi is largely repeating his trial arguments and inviting this court to interpret the evidence differently than did the trial judge,” Justice Gail Dickson said in the decision “That is not the role of this court.”
The ruling said a police officer had searched around Choi’s underwear waistband for contraband while booking him at the station.
The officer said it was not a strip search. A video showed Choi’s buttocks and groin areas were not visible in the search. The judge, however, ruled it was a strip search.
Choi’s appeal said police had no grounds to arrest, search and question him. The trial judge disagreed.
The judge did agree an officer asking Choi about a bulge in his pocket after he had asked for a lawyer was a violation of his rights.
Choi argued the judge erred by ruling that the drugs and a police statement were admissible and that the verdict was unreasonable.
The unanimous three-judge appeal court panel disagreed and dismissed the appeal.
