A Prince George man faces time behind bars after a provincial court judge found him guilty Friday of possessing heroin and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
The verdict stems from the May 10, 2014 arrest of Joseph William Hammer, 55, during a police raid on a 2300-block Ruggles Street home.
Hammer was found lying on a hallway floor but with his feet inside a bedroom where the drugs were uncovered, as were a scale and other drug-related paraphernalia, an open safe and more than $3,000 in cash. Another $907 in cash was found in Hammer's pocket.
At question was whether Hammer knew the drugs were in the home and had some measure of control over them. Defence counsel had argued the discovery of documents, including a cable bill, with the name of Hammer's brother, John, on it along with a receipt made out to Joseph Hammer with a Grand Forks address, was enough to cast reasonable doubt on the Crown prosecution's case.
But judge Shannon Keyes found the evidence in support of the Crown's case to be overwhelming. She noted the number of bottles for prescription pills found in a kitchen cupboard, a winning lottery ticket with Joseph Hammer's name on it taped to the fridge door and a bottle of Viagra with his name on it in the bedroom closet.
"The only rational inference, in my opinion, is that Mr. Hammer was a resident of that home," Keyes said. "A person on a brief visit would not unload their prescriptions into someone else's kitchen cupboards nor would they post a lottery-winning ticket on the fridge."
As for the Viagra, Keyes found something so personal would be kept in a place providing private and easy access such as the person's bedroom.
"Lastly, the safe contained over $1,700 in cash and many thousands of dollars worth of cocaine and heroin were found on the bed in the open, next to Mr. Hammer's wallet," Keyes said. "I find it utterly unlikely that anyone would leave a wallet containing $1,360 in cash lying around in a room over which he would not have some measure of control."
Keyes also noted the wallet was left next to the open safe where police had found the cash in an envelope with the name "Joe" on it, lying underneath a potato chip can and amongst the drugs.
In all, 14.7 grams of powder cocaine, 28.1 grams of heroin, 51.46 grams of rock cocaine and another 5.6 grams of rock cocaine packaged in three separate baggies were found inside the safe, along with $1,775 in cash.
In 2011, Joseph Hammer escaped sentencing after he was found guilty of trafficking cocaine from an October 2007 incident because, at 43 months, the case took too long to conclude.
But in 2013, both brothers were sentenced for possession for the purpose of trafficking from a 2011 incident. Joseph Hammer, who had served 20 months prior to sentencing, was sentenced to one more day in jail while James was sentenced to 17 months.
Sentencing will be held at a later date once a pre-sentence report has been completed. Hammer has remained out on bail since October 2014.
Hammer will be the last of three to be sentenced from the incident. In November 2015, Joanne Bunny Faith Potskin, 46, was sentenced to 48 days in jail for possession for the purpose of trafficking. She had been in custody for 28 days prior to sentencing. In September 2014, Tanya Lynn Crocker, 43, was fined $500 plus a $150 victim surcharge for possession of a controlled substance.
Hammer also continues to face another count of possession for the purpose of trafficking from an August 2014 arrest. A decision on that case will be issued next month.
