A British Columbia Supreme Court judge agreed with Animal Liberation Front spokesperson David Barbarash’s legal complaint and quashed a search warrant that had been executed by police at his home on July 30, 2002.
In a written decision this week, Justice Elizabeth Bennett ruled that the evidence used to support the search warrant — a single photocopied newspaper article — was not sufficient grounds for issuing the warrant. Bennett wrote,
I conclude that the information to obtain does not contain reliable information upon which to base reasonable grounds for the search warrant . . . The search warrant is quashed.
Still up in the air is the status of Barbarash’s property seized by police. Among other things, police removed two computers, dozens of computer discs, about 100 video tapes, and numerous papers and documents. All of that property will remain sealed until a scheduled hearing in 2003 at which police plan to seek permission to turn some of the seized property over to U.S. law enforcement.
Source:
Animal rights warrant quashed. Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun, December 12, 2002.