After losing several other bids to keep evidence out of trial, defence in the Curtis Sagmoen case involving uttered threats is mounting one final legal challenge ahead of the main trial.
This time, Sagmoen’s lawyer is challenging the lawfulness of his arrest.
The court proceedings on the issue provided an inside look at RCMP operations in what’s become a high-profile case.
Police testimony revealed officers didn’t want to arrest Sagmoen on his family’s rural North Okanagan property over concerns about officer safety because the case involved a firearm.
Sagmoen has pleaded not guilty to five charges in connection with allegations he threatened a woman with a gun in August, 2017.
The victim had been invited out to a rural area to work as an escort before she was allegedly ambushed.
According to police, she unsuccessfully tried to drive away and ended up running off, losing her shoes in the process.
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Court heard police considered calling Sagmoen off the property to arrest him, but were worried that would give him time to get rid of possible evidence.
Instead, they arrested him during a traffic stop in early September, 2017.
It’s that arrest and a related search of the vehicle Sagmoen was driving that his defence lawyer is now challenging in court.
On Tuesday, defence pressed officers on how they knew they had grounds to arrest Sagmoen.
It’s expected to be the defence’s final legal argument ahead of the main trial.
The justice has already sided with Crown on other legal issues, ruling that evidence found during a search of the family property and Sagmoen’s recorded statements to police can be admitted at trial.
This case has been in the spotlight since police found the body of a missing teenager during a search of Sagmoen’s family property in the fall of 2017.
He has not been charged in connection with her death nor has he been named a suspect.
Still, there will likely be a lot of attention on the case when the main portion of the uttering threats trial begins later this week.
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