Student's killer on parole
Charges after investigation
Hostage was on captor 
Regulating power prices
Gen X is raking it in
LeBlanc laying groundwork
US vetoes UN resolution
$100M Nassar settlement
12 Trump jurors picked
Rates slow green economy
Vicinity hires president,
Record housing starts
Warriors ready for Round 2
Kalamalka Bowl cancelled
Rockets live to fight on
Rihanna's parenting ‘hack’
Tarantino scraps film
Munn talks cancer battle
A Kamloops woman who was caught with a loaded gun in her jacket pocket could be facing a prison sentence longer than two years.
Angeline Marie Morris, 44, was convicted following a trial in B.C. Supreme Court on one count of possessing a loaded prohibited firearm.
Court heard Mounties found Morris passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle on the Tk’emlups reserve on Jan. 6, 2021.
RCMP Const. David Bigcharles said he found her after responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle. He said she was asleep with a half-eaten tub of ice cream on her chest.
Bigcharles roused Morris and spotted a baggie of heroin on the floor of the vehicle. She was arrested and searched, at which time the Mountie reached into Morris’ jacket pocket and pulled out a modified flare gun.
Court heard the weapon had been altered to fire live .410-calibre shotgun shells, and it was loaded. A firearms expert testified at trial that he tested the gun and determined it was capable of firing a live round.
Defence lawyer Jamie Gagnon suggested Morris was armed with the flare gun and a can of bear spray, which was also found inside the vehicle, to protect herself from wildlife in the area.
Gagnon said Morris could have been unaware that the flare gun had been altered.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo did not buy either argument.
“The device contained a shotgun shell and was significantly modified by a metal barrel and black tape. It was found in the accused’s jacket pocket," the judge said.
“The modifications to the flare gun can clearly be seen. In my view, the only reasonable inference is that the accused either knew that it was a firearm or was reckless or wilfully blind to that fact.”
Loo found Morris guilty. At the outset of her trial, Morris also pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of a controlled substance.
Crown prosecutor Anthony Varesi told court he will seek a sentence of more than two years in prison.
Lawyers will return to court Monday to set a date for sentencing.
Morris remains free on bail.
