
Dropping a baggie of drugs in the lobby of a Kelowna motel was just the clue police needed to track down a drug dealer.
On Tuesday, Clayton Knight entered a guilty plea to possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine. It was supposed to the first day of his trial, but the file has now been adjourned until a sentencing date can be set, a representative from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said.
Knight was found in possession of drugs Feb. 9, 2021, when he was staying at the Accent Inn in Kelowna.
Details from a recent court decision reveal Knight checked into the motel and somewhere between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., the night employee provided him with a new room key, verifying his ID in the process.
“Later that morning, a bag of suspected illicit drugs was discovered outside the hotel lobby and given to … the assistant manager,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Sukstorf said in her decision.
“After reviewing surveillance footage,(the assistant manager) identified the individual dropping the bag after exiting an SUV and called the police.”
At 9:01 a.m., a police officer from the Kelowna RCMP was dispatched to the Accent Inn. Upon arrival, he was handed the baggie of drugs, watched the CCTV footage and got Knight’s name, room number, and checkout time.
The officer started to surveil Knight’s room, and saw someone matching his description leaving the room, carrying a familiar looking backpack, getting into the passenger seat of a BMW SUV.
Believing the vehicle was connected to his investigation, he followed it, Sukstorf said.
Then, at around 9:40 a.m., the officer initiated a traffic stop. After confirming Knight’s identity, the officer returned to his vehicle to run the occupants’ names through the police database and request backup. Sukstorf said the officer had generalized safety concerns due to the presence of the two men and a large dog.
Once backup arrived, Knight was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.
In the vehicle, police found more drugs, paraphernalia, and large sums of cash, which shifted the focus of the investigation toward a trafficking offence, the decision said.
Knight tried to argue that the the vehicle stop and his subsequent arrest resulted in the four alleged breaches of his Charter rights.
“He argues that these breaches were exacerbated by vague safety concerns and investigative convenience, which, he contends, were insufficient to justify the delays of the police in fulfilling their constitutional obligations,” Justice Sukstorf said.
Ultimately, however Sukstorf found the traffic stop and request for Knight’s identification were lawful.
She also found the police interaction became a detention as soon as the officer confirmed Knight’s identity, having already formed a strong suspicion of drug-related activity.
Further details of the offence should be made available during sentencing.
