A judge rejected that an assertion a Red Deer drug dealer’s constitutional rights were violated while he was in a prison before sentencing him to five years in prison Thursday.
Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench Madame Justice June Ross dismissed Allie Gader’s claim his rights were breached during a takedown at the Edmonton Remand Centre in June 2016.
Gader’s lawyer had filed arguments alleging the incident amounted to an assault on Gader and a violation of his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
An Edmonton Remand Centre video shown in court Thursday showed a clearly irritated Gader, who appeared to be yelling and gesturing at a guard off-camera, walking back to a table in his cellblock common area where he had left some papers.
He suddenly grabbed a plastic chair, lifted it high and threw it to the floor.
A nearby guard quickly took him to the floor and restrained him as other guards rushed over. By the time the two-minute incident was over about nine guards were on scene.
Testifying on the stand, Gader said while handcuffed, his head was smashed on the floor, breaking his dentures and glasses. He was also choked, he claimed.
Madame Justice Ross said Gader’s testimony was not credible.
“In my view, there’s nothing on the video that supports Mr. Gader’s recollection of what happened during that incident.
“There’s nothing that looks like his head being slammed down,” she said, adding she saw no choking either.
”There is no evidence of excessive force.”
Crown prosecutor Kent Brown said the video showed the officer, who was much lighter than the 340-pound Gader, was “completely reasonable” in the way he handled the angry prisoner.
”He’s not, if I can put it in the vernacular, roughing up Mr. Gader.”
Gader had also alleged his charter rights were breached because a Crown prosecutor allegedly improperly obtained medical records from the Bonnyville Indian-Metis Rehabilitation Centre, where he had gone for drug treatment in November 2016 for about nine days while he was in prison.
Gader’s lawyer, Joshua Asp, categorized the Crown prosecutor’s actions as “improper conduct.”
The judge rejected there had been any “violation of privacy interests.”
Ross accepted Red Deer Crown’s prosecutor Donna Derie-Gillespie’s testimony on the stand that she had no need nor intention to seek medical information.
Derie-Gillespie was trying only to get information on why Gader had left a near-month-long treatment program after nine days. The information was required for an upcoming bail review hearing requested by Gader’s lawyer.
The constitutional challenges sidetracked Gader’s sentencing, which was to have taken place last October shortly after he pleaded guilty to four counts of drug trafficking and one count of possession of the proceeds of crime.
Drugs included: triazolam, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and morphine. Police also seized more than $14,000 in cash.
A three-day hearing began Tuesday to deal with both the constitutional challenges and sentencing.
Before Thursday’s sentencing, Gader said he has suffered from chronic pain most of his life and lapsed back into drug abuse.
“I’m very sorry for what I done. I thought I was going to go the rest of my life without getting in trouble.
“I want to get this over with and move on.”
Madame Justice Ross said greed motivated Gader, who was on Alberta’s Assured Income for Severely Handicapped (AISH) program and used it to get free drugs.
“Really, we see a man who went back to his old ways,” she said, referring to his last conviction in 2003, a nearly five-year sentence for drug dealing.
“The accused was taking advantage of very vulnerable people.”
Gader was also banned from owning weapons for life. He was given credit for 1,449 days served pre-sentence in prison with a 1.5-days-per-day-served formula sine his June 2015 arrest leaving him with 375 days to serve.