The lawyer for a Greater Victoria man found guilty of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking will try to have the charges stayed, claiming that the case took too long to get through the courts.
Zachary Scott Matheson was charged with four counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. He was found guilty in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday.
Defence lawyer Bradley Hickford and Crown prosecutor Joshua Cramer are scheduled to present their arguments on the issue Jan. 9 and 10 before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brian MacKenzie.
In the meantime, Matheson will remain on bail.
Cramer said the timeliness of prosecutions has come up lately due to a Supreme Court of Canada decision from July. The so-called Jordan decision said it is reasonable for provincial court cases to get to trial within 18 months and for Supreme Court cases to take 30 months.
The Jordan decision was cited in an October ruling in which an Edmonton judge stayed a count of first-degree murder against a man whose trial was set to start more than five years after he was charged.
The charges against Matheson stem from a major drug bust in 2013. He was charged in 2014.
Cramer said the Crown asserts that Matheson’s trial went ahead in a reasonable way, and the defence will have to compile evidence to the contrary. “The onus is on the defence,” he said.
Matheson and Ali Arash Ziaee were arrested in June 2013 following an investigation by B.C.’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
Search warrants were executed at an apartment building on Peatt Road in Langford, a residence on Claude Road in Langford and a residence on Heatherdale Road in Saanich. Drugs valued at $542,000 were seized, including cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, crystal meth and GHB, also known as the “date-rape” drug.
Ziaee pleaded guilty to three charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking. He was sentenced to 21Ú2 years in prison.
— With files from The Canadian Press
