Thai Truong

The Crown brought a pre-trial motion to qualify three police officers as expert witnesses in a prosecution for cocaine importation and money laundering.

The court applied the Mohan and Abbey tests for admissibility.

The court admitted the general opinion evidence of the money laundering expert, excluding portions relating to methods not alleged against the accused.

The court fully admitted the evidence of the cocaine trafficking expert, including opinions on pricing and cell phone use.

However, the court excluded the proposed evidence regarding Mexican drug cartels, finding it irrelevant to the charges and highly prejudicial as bad character evidence.

The Crown sought to commit multiple co-accused to stand trial following a preliminary inquiry into numerous drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, and criminal organization charges.

The court applied the test for committal, assessing whether there was any evidence upon which a reasonable jury, properly instructed, could convict.

The court found sufficient evidence to commit several accused on substantive drug and firearms offences, as well as conspiracy charges.

However, the court discharged certain accused on the criminal organization charges, finding insufficient evidence that they operated as a criminal organization rather than for personal benefit.