VANCOUVER — David Lloydsmith was alone inside his Mission, B.C., home when an RCMP officer showed up at the door. The constable barged his way inside, bruising Mr. Lloydsmith in the process. The Mountie did not have a search warrant. He should not have entered the house, and excessive force was used, a B.C. Supreme Court judge would later find. Mr. Lloydsmith’s Charter rights were violated, the judge ruled.
The officer ventured to the house after an erroneous 911 call. There was no sign of disturbance around the Lloydsmith home. Once he’d forced his way inside, the officer detected a smell of marijuana, and an illicit grow operation was allegedly found in the basement.
Was that a big deal? To police, apparently not. No charges were laid, and the RCMP’s file was soon closed.
Marijuana plants and related paraphernalia that police say they removed from the home were destroyed. But seven years on, Mr. Lloydsmith is in a tough legal battle, trying to keep possession of his $300,000 home. His fight is not with police or the Crown, but another branch of B.C.’s Ministry of Justice, called the Civil Forfeiture Office (CFO).
Despite the lack of evidence, the CFO considers Mr. Lloydsmith’s home an instrument of crime. They want to seize it, sell it and dump the proceeds into provincial coffers. They do that sort of thing all the time.
