WATCH ABOVE: After a court battle that dragged on for four years, Crown prosecutors have stayed charges against former Montana Cree First Nation chief Carolyn Buffalo. Fletcher Kent reports.
EDMONTON — Charges against Carolyn Buffalo, the former chief of Montana Cree First Nation in Hobbema, have been stayed.
The charges stem from an investigation into the seizure of 16 million contraband cigarettes in January 2011.
Buffalo was charged along with the head of Rainbow Tobacco Robbie Dickson. He is charged under the Tobacco Tax Act. Those charges have not been dropped.
Buffalo and Dickson were defending themselves against charges of storing tobacco products that were not marked for legal sale in Alberta and for possessing more than 1,000 cigarettes. Authorities alleged the cigarettes were brought across the provincial border illegally.
Buffalo’s former lawyer says the prosecution was frivolous.
“This is sort of the culmination of a series of what one could only describe as irregularities in what, certainly in my opinion, has been a gross waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Julian Falconer.
“It’s scandalous how far this has gone.”
The prosecution did not specify exactly why the charges were stayed against Buffalo.
“It’s a perfect example of an effort to criminalize folks instead of attempting to resolve with first nations what is obviously an issue that requires good faith resolution discussions, not on a criminal level, but negotiations between governments on the aboriginal right to trade in tobacco,” said Falconer.
“This is an area that’s very difficult and very complex.”
READ MORE: Battle over illegal smokes goes before Manitoba court
Falconer said the last four years have been hard on Buffalo and her family. He did not know if his former client has decided to pursue any further legal action.
The province told Global News it will release a statement later Wednesday. However, officials say they cannot discuss specifics of the case because Dickson’s is still before the courts.
As a general rule, the province says it would stay charges if proceeding is not in the public interest or if there is no reasonable expectation of a conviction.
Late Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for Alberta Justice and Solicitor General sent Global News this statement:
“There is a two pronged test used to determine whether a prosecution will proceed. That test is (1) that the prosecution have a reasonable likelihood of conviction and (2) that it also be in the public interest. During the course of a prosecution, a prosecutor is required to continually reassess both the reasonable likelihood of conviction and the public interest. If at some point the prosecution no longer meets this two-pronged test, the prosecution should be concluded. This was the situation in the case against Ms. Buffalo when the Crown elected to stay the charges she faced.
“In this case, though charges are stayed against two individuals, the charges are proceeding against a third, Mr. Dickson. Accordingly, it is inappropriate to comment further as the case as it remains before the court.”
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