Man appealing sentence for drug trafficking in Yellowknife
Noel Tesfazion says his Charter rights were violated in two instances
A man convicted on drug trafficking charges in Yellowknife is appealing his sentence.
Noel Tesfazion, 37, was sentenced in July to an 18-month conditional sentence, sometimes called house arrest, for possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
In 2019, Tesfazion was found with bags of cocaine in the Yellowknife Walmart parking lot. He admitted the drugs were meant to be sold.
Tesfazion has filed an appeal on his conviction, first reported by Cabin Radio, and said his Charter rights were breached in two ways.
The first is about how RCMP arrested, searched and detained him. He argued that his right to be protected against unreasonable search or seizure was violated by the manner in which he was detained in RCMP cells after his arrest.
Tesfazion was held for about six days, and his whole cell was under 24-hour video surveillance, including the toilet area.
In his second Charter challenge, Tesfazion argued that he has a right to be tried within a reasonable period of time and after 72 months since his arrest, that right had been violated.
The courts had already previously ruled on both Charter challenges. N.W.T. Supreme Court Justice Shannon Smallwood ruled that Tesfazion did have the right to a degree of privacy while using the toilet and his rights had been violated. She said she had taken that Charter breach into consideration with her sentencing.
For the second Charter challenge, she said the excessive delays were attributable to, among other things, court shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tesfazion changing lawyers three times, and other defence delays.
In his appeal, Tesfazion is arguing that Smallwood erred in those rulings, and that the challenges be reconsidered.
With files from Sidney Cohen.