A Vancouver man charged in connection with drugs and live rounds of ammunition found in a Burnaby self-storage locker had his charges stayed last month because the case took too long to get to trial.
Brandon Akil Cooper was arrested on Nov. 28, 2013 and charged with seven firearm and drug trafficking counts after Vancouver police executed search warrants on a Richmond residence and a locker at Maple Leaf Self Storage at 7705 Griffiths Dr., according to a Jan. 24 provincial court ruling.
At the Burnaby locker, police recovered 24 containers of marijuana, live rounds of ammunition and Cooper’s identification, according to the ruling, and his fingerprints were found on one of the containers of marijuana.
At the Richmond residence, where Cooper was arrested, police found a number of pistols, live rounds of ammunition, 11 cellular phones and three SIM cards.
Cooper’s trial was set for March 2017, but his lawyer, Dimitri Kontou, argued that was beyond the time frame set out by a landmark 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling, which outlined that provincial court cases should conclude within 18 months, barring extraordinary circumstances, while cases at the superior court level should be completed within 30 months.
Provincial court Judge Gregory Rideout agreed with the defence, saying in his ruling that Cooper’s Charter rights had been violated by the delay.
“The applicant’s right to be tried within a reasonable time as guaranteed by section 11(b) of the Charter has been infringed,” Rideout said. “A stay of proceedings is directed.”
Rideout blamed most of the delay on the prosecution, which did not disclose certain police documents in a timely manner, according to the judge.
Crown counsel James Cryder argued delays were also caused by the complexity of the case, by the defence and by scheduling difficulties at the Vancouver court house, but Rideout disagreed, saying the defence was, at most, responsible for less than three months of the total anticipated delay of 19 months and 18 days.
He also stated the case was “relatively straightforward” and that the courthouse at 222 Main St. might be busy but is not a court house “plagued by lengthy, persistent, and notorious institutional delays.”
