Legal jousting marks start of Saskatoon trial for men charged with selling fentanyl-laced cocaine

Lawyers spent much of the second day at a Saskatoon drug trial arguing whether the defence could cross examine a police officer who drafted a search warrant application.

The defence wants to apply for the right to do the cross examination, but the lawyers debated Wednesday whether the defence could even make the application.

Two men are accused of selling cocaine laced with fentanyl thathas been connected with the overdose deaths offour people duringa single weekend in March2018. Their drug trafficking trial began Tuesdayin a Saskatoon provincial courtroom.

Drug trafficking allegations against a third co-accused have been withdrawn.

ShervinBeeharry, Japmanjot Grewal and AzamKabaniwere originally all charged with possession, trafficking and weapons charges in connection with what happened that fatal March weekend.

Two months ago, all three were also charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death andcriminal negligence causing bodily harm.

On Friday, the drug charges against Kabani were withdrawn. He still faces manslaughter charges.

• Three men who allegedly sold cocaine cut with fentanyl now charged with manslaughter

• Trial begins for 2 men charged in fatal fentanyl-laced cocaine case in Saskatoon

The withdrawal of those charges cleared the way for the trial for Beeharry and Grewal, which began Tuesday. The trial involves the trafficking and weapons charges, but not the manslaughter charge, said Beeharry's defence lawyer.

"They're on trial for a number of weapons-related offences, essentially a number of drug-related offences which could be either trafficking, or what we call possession for the purpose of trafficking," saidBrianPfefferle.

The judge-alone trial began Tuesday with the defence applying to cross-examine police about a search warrant application. The application was toget permission from a judge to raid the property where three men allegedly kept the drugs.

"It gives us, as defence counsel, anopportunity to question that officer and the circumstances surrounding the presentation of that document to the judge, to determine whether that process was fair," Pfefferle said.

"The judgewould review the circumstances as outlined in evidence and determine whether or not it was a fair assessment of the evidence."

On Wednesday, the Crown and defence argued as to whether the defence could even make the application.

The debate turned on whether Beeharry and Grewal lived in the property raided by police and would then have a reasonable expectation of privacy or whether they were simply using the site as a place to allegedly store and sell and drugs from.

Manyof the details used by both sides came from the bail hearings of the accused and cannot be published because of a publication ban.

In the end, the judge ruled that the defence could make its application.

The next step will be for the judge to rule on whether the officer can be cross examined.