Mike on Crime

By Mike McIntyre
Winnipeg Free Press

A Winnipeg man has been cleared of drug charges — despite the fact police found nearly a kilogram of cocaine and $13,000 cash inside his downtown apartment.

Gurbrinder Brar, 30, walked out of court Friday afternoon a free man.

Police arrested Brar in August 2005 after obtaining a search warrant for his residence. Officers had received a tip from an informant that Brar might be involved in a drug trafficking network, court was told.

Queen’s Bench Justice Al MacIness said the evidence didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brar was the only person who could have owned the drugs and money.

Police surveillance conducted prior to his arrest showed others entering his suite — including a well-known local drug dealer who walked in carrying a white bag and left empty-handed about 10 minutes later.

Brar wasn’t home at the time of the visit and the dealer used his own key to get inside.

Defence lawyer Mike Cook argued the man may have stashed the drugs inside Brar’s suite without his client’s knowledge. Brar’s fingerprints weren’t on the plastic bag containing the drugs, leaving police with no direct link.

Cook said it’s ironic the police video surveillance used to build a case against his client ultimately ended up helping him.

“Without that, he might be looking at five years in prison right now,” Cook said outside court.

“At the end of the day, the judge accepted the argument this wasn’t a situation where he had exclusive opportunity.”

Brar had been free on bail since his arrest. His wife and brother-in-law were also charged, but the cases were dropped at a preliminary hearing. The drug dealer in the police surveillance video wasn’t charged either. Police searched his home, but found nothing, court was told.