Vanessa-Ursula Minkowski

The defendant, Gregory Walton, was sentenced after being found guilty of failing to comply with his Long Term Supervision Order (LTSO) by testing positive for cocaine.

The court considered aggravating factors, including his criminal record and prior non-compliance with release conditions, and mitigating factors such as his stated commitment to rehabilitation and positive conduct under supervision.

The court emphasized the importance of the LTSO condition in managing the offender's risk of re-offence.

A sentence of 20 months incarceration (600 days jail) was imposed, with credit for pre-trial custody and an additional 50 days for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incarceration.

A DNA order was granted, and the victim surcharge was waived.

The defendant, subject to a Long Term Supervision Order, was charged with breaching conditions by testing positive for cocaine metabolite (BZE) in a urine sample.

The Crown presented evidence from Dynacare Labs scientists and forensic toxicologists.

The defence challenged the reliability of the urinalysis and proposed an alternative theory that the positive result was due to consumption of coca tea.

The court found the Dynacare records admissible and the urinalysis reliable.

The court rejected the coca tea defence theory as implausible due to lack of evidence regarding consumption proximate to the sample collection and lack of foundational support for the tea's composition.

The defendant was found guilty.