R. v. Pepper

R. v. Pepper

The court found that the phrase 'Can we hook up' was an investigatory inquiry and that the opportunity to commit an offence was not presented until the officer said 'hard and soft'; by that time police had a reasonable suspicion based on corroborating information from two independent sources linking the white 350Z...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
2010 BCSC 611
Parties
Crown: Regina; Accused: Richard Sean Pepper
Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
5 March 2010
Procedural Posture
Criminal Drug Trafficking (trafficking in Cocaine) / Second Stage Entrapment Hearing After Guilty Finding (trial Stage)
Outcome
Conviction entered on all counts; entrapment not established; matter adjourned for sentencing.
Legal Topics
Entrapment, Dial a Dope Operations, Reasonable Suspicion, Bona Fide Investigation, Random Virtue Testing
Source Language
english
Criminal Law Entrapment Police Conduct Informant Reliability Undercover Operations Dial a Dope Operations Reasonable Suspicion Bona Fide Investigation +1 more

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Parties

Regina

Crown

Richard Sean Pepper

Accused

Procedural Posture

Criminal Drug Trafficking (trafficking in Cocaine) / Second Stage Entrapment Hearing After Guilty Finding (trial Stage)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the accused was entrapped by police into committing trafficking offences
  2. 2 Whether police had a reasonable suspicion that the accused was engaged in drug trafficking before presenting an opportunity to commit the offence
  3. 3 Whether the phrase 'Can we hook up' constituted an offer to commit an offence or an investigative inquiry

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that the phrase 'Can we hook up' was an investigatory inquiry and that the opportunity to commit an offence was not presented until the officer said 'hard and soft'; by that time police had a reasonable suspicion based on corroborating information from two independent sources linking the white 350Z vehicle, licence plate and the specific cell phone number, therefore entrapment was not established and convictions stand.

Court Disposition

Conviction entered on all counts; entrapment not established; matter adjourned for sentencing.

Orders

  • Conviction entered on five counts of trafficking in cocaine
  • Matter adjourned for sentencing