Lit_Match

Owner to challenge alleged illegal searches in court
05-13-08|Vancouver Sun|Gerry Bellett

A homeowner who lost her occupancy after an inspection by Coquitlam's Public Safety Team is seeking to launch a class-action lawsuit against the city and BC Hydro for conducting what's alleged to be illegal searches for marijuana growing operations.

The action is the latest court challenge that has been filed against Coquitlam in the wake of a controversial inspection program to root out illegal marijuana growing operations in the city.

Vancouver lawyer Alexander Markham-Zantvoort filed the action on behalf of Nicola Monaco, the owner of the home at 368 Seaforth Crescent, Coquitlam.

Monaco lives in Vancouver and rents the home. Her tenant was given two hours notice to leave following a search March 27, which resulted in the city claiming the house had previously been used as a grow-op.

Monaco's suit claims Coquitlam has no authority to carry out such inspections and that the inspections were illegal and violate provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It challenges the right of BC Hydro to disclose personal and private information to Coquitlam concerning a resident's electrical consumption.

For the past year, the Public Safety Team has been searching homes which Hydro records indicate have had high electrical consumption -- an indication of illegal marijuana cultivation, police say.

However, the suit will require a judicial hearing before it can be certified as a class action.

An outcry against the way searches for marijuana growing operations were being conducted has led to major changes in operating policy as the city attempts to defuse criticism that its inspectors have been abusing their powers.

Mark Halashewski, who lives on Mariner Way with his girlfriend, is facing an estimated $20,000 in costs and fines after the city red-flagged his house as a growing operation when a remnant of a marijuana plant was found in his garden shed.

"They didn't take it away and analyse it. In fact, they gave it to me back. It's not enough to make a joint with," said Halashewski, whose occupancy permit was revoked. "They know I wasn't growing pot here. But they denied us occupancy and have given me three pages of things I have to fix before they'll let us live here again."

City official Therese Michelson said the inspection team red-flagged the house after finding a number of items indicating it had been used as a marijuana growing operation. "We don't expect to find a functioning grow-op under this program because people have time to move it," she said.

The marijuana found in the shed is described as "shake" and was the residue from marijuana leaves, she said. Other traces of leaves were found in sawhorses in the shed. A travel bag smelling strongly of marijuana was found, and there was evidence in the carport that a wall had been removed that could have been used to hide a growing operation, plus holes in the ceiling where hooks might have been used to hang plants, she said.

Michelson said a number of other suspicious items were found in the home's electrical and ventilation systems that added up to the likelihood there was a growing operation.

Halashewski said there never was a false wall in his carport and the hooks were for him to hang up his bike and other items. The questioned ventilation system was for a washer and dryer that had been disconnected, he said.

His girlfriend Carla, an exotic dancer, is still upset the inspectors went through her clothes during the March 11 search, seizing an RCMP uniform shirt.

"One of the cops said I couldn't keep it. I said, 'You guys can't be going through my personal things in a closet,' but they took it anyway. I said 'What right have you to do that?' and one of them said I could use it to impersonate a police officer. I mean, I'm a stripper," she said.

Coquitlam RCMP Const. Brenda Gresiuk said the shirt was taken because it was the property of the RCMP.

Michelson said the new policy will confine inspections to health and safety issues.

The city was planning to meet with aggrieved homeowners whose properties were searched but no traces of marijuana growing operations found. Some were left with lists of extensive upgrades after inspectors scoured their homes writing up any infractions they discovered, many having nothing to do with health or safety.

"We won't be doing that any more," Michelson said.

There could be some relief for these homeowners, as Michelson said the city might apply the new inspections standards retroactively.

Some homeowners, like Halashewski, have been told to provide expensive environmental testing of their homes to prove the water system or air is safe.

"They want me to give them a noxious substance report on my water -- it'll cost over $2,000," Halashewski said. He was given two $500 tickets, one for the prohibited accumulation of material, the other for the prohibited use of his property.

"That's the fine for growing marijuana, which I haven't done. Then there's the $5,000 reinspection fee I've got to pay and the thousands of dollars in renovations to fix up the house, which was like that when I bought it," he said.

Michelson said there will also be a change in the search procedure and inspectors will now go into homes when residents demand an immediate search instead of making them wait.

"If people offer to let the team in we will go in without waiting for the 24-hour period to be up. If there's no grow-op we'll leave," he said.

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)