A Saskatoon drug-dealer handed a 10-year prison sentence won a part of his appeal because police violated his rights by making him wait seven-hours to speak with a lawyer.
Convicted drug dealer Jordan Peter Lichtenwald appealed his conviction on drug and weapons-related charges, as well as his sentence.
He was convicted of possessing hydromorphone, methamphetamine, GHB, cocaine and fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking meth and cocaine and 11 firearms-related charges.
Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Justice Brian Barrington-Foote, in his June 10, 2020, decision, said the evidence found at Lichtenwald’s home should have been excluded from the original trial because Lichtenwald’s charter rights were breached when he was forced to wait seven hours to speak with a lawyer after being arrested. The two other Appeal Court Justices Ralph Ottenbreit and Lian Schwann agreed.The evidence found at his home included an SKS rifle, a sawed-off rifle, starter pistol, pellet gun and a high capacity magazine. The evidence found on his person and in his vehicle, however, should still be allowed, said the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Lichtenwald, 38, was convicted in 2018 of possession for the purpose of trafficking and 11 weapons-related charges.
Lichtenwald was arrested April 26, 2016, after a police officer from the Saskatoon Integrated Drug Unit noticed suspicious activity while they were conducting surveillance on a vehicle at a car wash.
According to court records, police observed Lichtenwald and another man with their heads down counting cash. Police searched Lichtenwald and found a folding knife and $2,310 in his pocket. Police searched his vehicle and found a small quantity of cocaine and methamphetamine in plain sight on the floor. They found more cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as fentanyl, hydromorphone and GHB elsewhere in the vehicle. In the vehicle they also found an expandable baton, a loaded handmade .22 calibre zip gun, .22 calibre ammunition, an axe and an additional $340.
Lichetenwald was read his rights and asked if he wanted to speak with a lawyer, to which he said “yes.” But he wasn’t allowed to call a lawyer. He was taken to the police station and held there while police obtained a search warrant for his home. There, police seized more GHB, scales and other drug paraphernalia. They also seized a sawed-off .22 calibre rifle, a 43. Calibre Walther BB gun, pellets, a Slavia starter pistol, four knives, a loaded SKS semi-automatic assault rifle and a high capacity magazine.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that being allowed to speak to a lawyer “without delay” means “immediately” and Lichtenwald’s rights were violated. The court said even though he wasn’t questioned during the seven-hours, he was left there on “ice.”
During the 2018 trial in Saskatoon, the Crown sought a 12-year prison term. Defence Brian Pfefferle had asked the court for a six-year sentence, arguing that Lichtenwald was only a street-level “vendor” who sold drugs to feed his own habit.
When the trial judge sentenced Lichtenwald in 2018 he said, “When the defendant consciously made the decision to engage in the business of trafficking in hard drugs, he sowed the wind. He will now reap the whirlwind” and sentenced him to 10 years.
According to court records, Lichtenwald’s criminal record stretches back more than 20 years but when he was arrested in 2016 he didn’t have any convictions since 2005. His record, entered into court, shows he has eight drug trafficking convictions, as well as theft and sexual assault convictions.
A pre-sentence report said that Lichtenwald “has no remorse and is regarded as a high risk to reoffend.”
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal denied Lichtenwald’s appeal that the trial judge erred in finding that the police lawfully arrested him and said there was no breach of Lichtenwald’s charter rights. The appeal court also ruled that the officers didn’t breach his rights when asking for his home address, which they then used to obtain a search warrant for his residence.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal said it will now hear arguments whether Lichtenwald’s sentence should be appealed. The Court of Appeal instructed Lichtenwald’s lawyer Brian Pfefferle and Crown prosecutor Wade McBride, to submit written submissions on the sentence within four weeks of the June 10, 2020, judgment and then the court will decide whether a sentence appeal will be allowed.
