Cannabis dispensary owners Michelle and Doug Sikora say it’s back to business as usual at their S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe in Gibsons after they were granted a stay of proceedings on trafficking and possession charges.
The Sikoras were charged in March 2016 after an RCMP raid on their home in late 2015.
Provincial Court judge Steven Merrick granted the stay in a two-part ruling handed down May 9 in Sechelt provincial court.
In the first part of his ruling, Merrick said Crown prosecutors had successfully made the case that the Sikoras were guilty of possession for the purposes of trafficking and trafficking, after selling cannabis edibles from their home-based business to an undercover RCMP officer who did not have, and was never asked to show, a medical authorization.
Merrick’s finding brought a hush to the friends and supporters of the couple who were in the courtroom, but the mood changed when Merrick read out his decision on the application for a stay of proceedings based on the Jordan case.
Jordan was the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision that set benchmarks for delays in criminal trials and other court cases.
Michelle Sikora, who represented the couple during the trial, argued that the delays they faced violated the principles set out in Jordan.
Merrick said although some delays were the fault of the defence, most were caused by “a lack of court resources and Crown availability.”
He said while both the Crown and the Sikoras made efforts to minimize the delays, “the net delay of 19 months remains presumptively unreasonable.”
Merrick also rejected the Crown’s argument that the defence caused delays by raising “collateral” issues.
As Merrick left the courtroom, the Sikoras hugged as their supporters applauded.
“It’s been 26 months and one day since the charges were laid against us, and it’s finally over,” Michelle Sikora said. Doug Sikora added that he felt the ruling would be precedent setting.
Going into the courthouse earlier, Doug Sikora said he was nervous because a conviction would have put the future of their dispensary and its employees at risk.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth has said that under the province’s framework for non-medical cannabis sales, a conviction for trafficking would disqualify someone from getting a retail licence.
The full transcript of the first decision is available here and the second decision is posted here.
