Defence lawyers question RCMP investigation during Yellowknife drug trial

Defence lawyers in the drug trial of two Yellowknife men took aim at the RCMP investigation that uncovered more than $500,000 in drugs in a downtown apartment almost three years ago.

The police investigation was triggered by firefighters who responded to a smoke alarm going off in the Hudson House apartment on Feb. 25, 2014.

According to an agreed statement of facts read at the beginning of the trial last week, firefighters called police because they smelled a strong odor of marijuana and saw drug paraphernalia in a bedroom, which they had to break into because the door was locked.

But the RCMP's lead investigator said in court Friday that he didn't smell any marijuana in the bedroom when he arrived. Const. Nathan Smith said he only smelled it after piercing sealed bags of the drug he found in the bedroom closet.

One of the first things police saw when they entered the apartment was a power bill in the name of Richard Shushack, one of the men on trial. It was a valuable piece of information because police were searching not only for drugs but for evidence of who lived there.

Relying on photos police took before and during the search, Shushack's lawyer, Katherine Oja, asked Smith why other items that could have shed light on who was occupying the bedroom weren't seized.

Oja noted that a police photo showed empty packaging for a locking doorknob, a crumpled receipt in front of it, a doorknob that doesn't lock and a screwdriver on a shelf in the closet of the bedroom where the drugs were found.

Oja asked Smith why none of that, nor the cooking pot on the stove that triggered the smoke alarm, an ashtray with cigarette butts and other items, were not seized for fingerprinting. Smith said he did not seize the items.

Oja also questioned Smith about notes he had made in the apartment before the search. Smith noted seeing a professional grade vacuum food sealer — often used for packaging drugs — on the kitchen counter.

"I believed it was a food sealer at the time," said Smith. "I learned later it was not."

Smith found out it was a sandwich press, but admitted he did not correct his notes.

Power workers questioned

Three workers at Northland Utilities also testified Friday.

They said power was cut to the apartment the morning of the search for non-payment. A clerk said after the power was cut a man came to Northland's Yellowknife office and asked how much was owing. The clerk said she couldn't provide information about the account because the man was not the person named on the account, Richard Shushack.

The clerk testified that the man was upset. She said he ended up paying $800 in $100 bills. The clerk said she didn't know the man's name but said she had seen him in the office before paying another utility invoice with large bills.

Oja pointed out William Joseph Simpson, the co-accused, and suggested he was the man who paid the bill and asked if the clerk agreed. She did.

The power was turned on a few hours before the smoke alarm went off, suggesting that someone had put a pot on the stove and turned it on after the power had been cut off. When it was restored, the stove heated up until the pot burned, setting off the smoke alarm.

No one was home when the firefighters and police came to the apartment.

Police found just over 25 kilograms of marijuana and a kilogram of cocaine in the locked bedroom, as well as scales, a vacuum food sealer and plastic packaging.

In the other bedroom in the apartment, which had no lock on the doorknob, police seized 12 grams of marijuana from the nightstand. That bedroom had a framed photo of Shushack on the wall.

The trial continues on Monday with another police witness, the forensic identification expert who examined the seized items for fingerprints.