Judge excludes inmate’s statements at NWT jail over drug balloons

Statements made by an inmate alleged to have had drugs inside him when he was admitted to Yellowknife’s jail will not be allowed as evidence against him.

Ryan Beaulieu faces charges of possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possessing cannabis for the purpose of unauthorized distribution and possessing cannabis and fentanyl at a correctional centre.

He is accused of having two balloons inside his body – one containing 20 grams of a mixture of bromofentanyl, fentanyl and bromaxolam, and one with 13 grams of cannabis – when he was admitted to the North Slave Correctional Complex, or NSCC, in April on separate charges.

In a decision this month, Judge Robert Gorin said statements Beaulieu made to corrections officers at the time – in which he is said to have denied possessing any contraband, identified a substance found on him as fentanyl, and stated he did not want to be charged – were inadmissible.

Gorin found the Crown had not proven that the statements were voluntary or the product of an operating mind – in other words, that Beaulieu understood what he was saying and the consequences of saying it to a person in authority.

According to the decision, corrections officers became suspicious after they scanned Beaulieu with a machine as part of the jail’s intake process and observed what appeared to be an object inside him. After Beaulieu went to a washroom or cell he was scanned a second time, and officers discovered the object was no longer in his body but in his underwear.

While Beaulieu initially did not comply with officers’ requests to hand over the object and told them he did not want “external charges,” the decision states he eventually surrendered two balloons containing drugs. When asked, Beaulieu told the officers one of the balloons contained fentanyl.

At a hearing over whether these statements could be used as evidence, some corrections officers who testified said Beaulieu appeared to show signs of intoxication at the time.

Defence lawyer Charles Davison argued Beaulieu’s statements should be excluded as he was not given a police caution reasonably close in time to the period in which he made them.

Crown lawyers Nakita McFadden and Brendan Green argued Beaulieu’s “anxious and distressed” behaviour at the jail, and his statement about external charges, indicated he knew he would be in trouble if corrections officers found drugs on him. They added Beaulieu has previous experience in the justice system.

The decision states Beaulieu was given a police caution when he was arrested six days before he was admitted to the jail, when he appeared to be falling in and out of consciousness. He was then cautioned five hours later when he was “still mumbling and sleepy.” Beaulieu said he has no memory of the cautions.

Gorin found Beaulieu was not given a standard police caution or advised of his charter rights “anywhere close in time” to when he made the statements to jail staff. He said Beaulieu should have been cautioned as soon as corrections officers became suspicious that he may have had contraband on him. The judge added that the previous cautions to Beaulieu, when he was arrested, were not related to the suspected contraband.

“The fact that he was in custody is an important factor. At that point he could not simply walk away from the authorities,” Gorin added.

The judge also found it unclear whether corrections officers’ testimony about Beaulieu – allegedly denying he had contraband on him before they became suspicious – were descriptions of their usual practice or their actual memories of interactions with Beaulieu.

Gorin said his decision should not be interpreted as a criticism of jail staff who, he said, were concentrating on safety rather than acquiring proof for a potential criminal case.

“They were faced with an urgent situation. Their focus was properly on security. Under the circumstances, it was understandably their foremost concern,” he said.

“As a result of their management of the situation, they retrieved dangerous narcotics that Mr Beaulieu secreted in and on his person. In doing so, they protected the inmates of NSCC, NSCC staff, and Mr Beaulieu as well.”

After the drugs were recovered from Beaulieu, he was taken by ambulance to hospital.

Gorin said a statement Beaulieu made to medical personnel – that the substance found on him was heroin – can be admitted as evidence. Medical personnel are not considered people in authority, the judge said, so the voluntary nature of a statement does not have to be proven.

Beaulieu is next due in court regarding the charges on January 16.