Racial profiling behind traffic stop: B.C. judge

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/12/24/bc-racial-profiling.html

Last Updated: Friday, December 24, 2010 | 6:19 PM PT Comments31 Recommend6

The Canadian Press

A B.C. judge says an RCMP officer who pulled over a man last year, uncovering 57 marijuana plants inside his car, only did so because the man was Asian.

Provincial court Judge Elizabeth Bayliff has excluded any evidence against Zai Chong Huang obtained during the 2009 traffic stop, saying it's "more probable than not" the man was the victim of racial profiling.

Huang was pulled over in 100 Mile House.

Const. Berze, who is identified in the decision only by his rank and surname, testified he pulled Huang over after he saw the car swerve twice on the highway and didn't realize the driver was Asian.

But Bayliff said she doesn't believe the officer, and instead said it's more likely Berze stopped Huang because he assumed, since the man is Asian, he must be involved in the marijuana trade.

Bayliff said both the traffic stop and the officer's questionable testimony amounted to a "serious breach" of Huang's rights, and allowing the evidence into court would harm the reputation of the justice system.

"In my view, the police conduct in question here was serious," Bayliff wrote in a decision posted to the court's website Friday.

"An inevitable consequence of my finding that the real motivation for this stop was that the officer had observed Huang's race is the finding that Const. Berze was being untruthful with the court. This is a serious matter in and of itself, quite apart from the error in reasoning represented by the act of 'racial profiling.'"

Bayliff's decision excludes all of the evidence uncovered during the traffic stop, including the 57 marijuana plants, a heavy-duty timer, fertilizer and 150 empty plant pots.

The judgment does not say whether the charges against Huang will proceed.

The Life and Times

Friday, December 24, 2010