United States of America v. Licht

United States of America v. Licht

The court found that a DEA civilian agent/CI entered Canada without lawful authority and without RCMP consent, conducted an unauthorized reverse sting that induced the accused to travel to the United States, conduct that was in clear defiance of Canadian law and sovereignty and shocking to the Canadian conscience; this constituted abuse of process disentitling the requesting state to the assistance of the court and warranted a stay of the extradition proceedings.

Citation
2002 BCSC 1151
Parties
Requested Person / Applicant: Brent Anthony Licht; Requesting State / Respondent: United States of America
Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
1 August 2002
Procedural Posture
Extradition / Committal Hearing (application for Exclusion Under S.24 and Stay for Abuse of Process)
Outcome
Extradition proceedings stayed
Legal Topics
Reverse Sting Operations, Abuse of Process, Charter S.7 and S.24, Evidence Exclusion, Police Misconduct, Mutual Legal Assistance, Controlled Substances Regulation
Source Language
English
Extradition Criminal Law Constitutional Law International Cooperation Immigration Law Reverse Sting Operations Abuse of Process Charter S.7 and S.24 +4 more

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Parties

Brent Anthony Licht

Requested Person / Applicant

United States of America

Requesting State / Respondent

Procedural Posture

Extradition / Committal Hearing (application for Exclusion Under S.24 and Stay for Abuse of Process)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether DEA conduct in Canada was illegal and in breach of Canadian sovereignty and immigration law
  2. 2 Whether the conduct constituted an abuse of process disentitling the requesting state from judicial assistance
  3. 3 Whether exclusion of evidence under s.24(2) was an appropriate remedy

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that a DEA civilian agent/CI entered Canada without lawful authority and without RCMP consent, conducted an unauthorized reverse sting that induced the accused to travel to the United States, conduct that was in clear defiance of Canadian law and sovereignty and shocking to the Canadian conscience; this constituted abuse of process disentitling the requesting state to the assistance of the court and warranted a stay of the extradition proceedings.

Court Disposition

Extradition proceedings stayed

Orders

  • Stay of committal/extradition proceedings ordered; requested state disentitled from assistance of the court