Judge denies bail in meth case

A judge has denied bail to a 50-year-old area man on crystal meth trafficking charges.

Karl Vopni was arrested January 26 following a traffic stop in Yorkton. Police allege that a subsequent search of the vehicle, turned up 5.8 grams of meth and paraphernelia consistent with trafficking.

The RCMP also seized a dvd allegedly containing pornography that resulted in a further charge of breaching probation as Vopni is currently serving a sentence for possession of child pornography.

Andrew Wyatt acting as agent for the federal Crown, argued for continued remand on the basis of the secondary and tertiary grounds that incarceration was necessary to prevent Vopni from re-offending and to maintain confidence in the justice system.

The prosecutor cited the fact the alleged offence occurred while the accused is still serving a jail sentence intermittently to satisfy the secondary ground.  

He said the strength of the Crown’s case and the potential for a long prison term if convicted satisfied the tertiary ground.

Further evidence cannot be published due to a publication ban.

Defence attorney Richard Leland disputed the strength of the Crown’s and argued further breaches could be avoided through electronic monitoring and $5,000 cash bail.

Judge Ross Green said while it is not a case in which he would invoke the tertiary ground, he was not satisfied the defence had shown remand was not necessary to prevent Vopni from re-offending.

Leland requested and was granted an adjournment until January 19 to pursue discussions with Crown.