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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
18 month conditional house arrest |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2013 |
Year Convicted: |
2015 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Canada |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Sanikiluaq |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Moses Ippak was wrongly convicted on January 9, 2015 of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut. Canada on November 1, 2013. Sanikiluaq is a small town on Hudson's Bay with a population of less than 900 people. Ippak's prosecution was based on a police search at the airport in Sanikiluaq that he agreed to. Police had received an anonymous tip that a passenger on a flight from Montreal was carrying a large amount of alcohol. Sanikiluaq is a dry town. Ippak was the only passenger on the flight. Two RCMP officers questioned Ippak and he offered to let them search his suitcase. After signing a consent form agreeing to the search the officers opened the suitcase and detected the smell of marijuana. The 26-year-old Ippak was arrested. The officers then searched the suitcase and found it concealed 1.2kilograms of marijuana as well as a about 5,000 gram-sized plastic bags. Ippak's trial lawyer argued in the Nunavut Court of Justice that the search was illegal because of the vague nature of the tip and that Ippak wasn't offered legal counsel before signing the consent form. The prosecution argued the search was routine and could have been performed without the tip. Justice Bonnie Tulloch ruled the "exclusion of this evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute," because she had the responsibility to "keep drug dealers and their couriers off the streets of Nunavut." Tulloch found Ippak guilty. She sentenced him to an 18 month conditional sentence of house arrest that he served at his home. Ippak appealed. On June 19, 2018 a three-judge panel of the Nunavut Court of Appeal quashed Ippak's conviction on two grounds: 1) Police did not have "reasonable grounds" to detain Ippak based on the anonymous tip; and 2) the police did not advise Ippak of his right to consult with a lawyer before questioning him and searching his suitcase. Judges Thomas Wakeling, Frederica Schutz, and Ronald Berger said the search that the RCMP officers said was routine, involved a "systemic and wholly unacceptable pattern of charter violations by police in Sanikiluaq." The Court's ruling written by Judge Berger stated: "Nunavut and Sanikiluaq are not charter-free zones. The protections that are afforded to all Canadian citizens apply with full force and effect throughout the country."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On June 19, 2018 a three-judge panel of the Nunavut Court of Appeal quashed Ippak's conviction on two grounds: 1) Police did not have "reasonable grounds" to detain Ippak based on the anonymous tip; and 2) the police did not advise Ippak of his right to consult with a lawyer before questioning him and searching his suitcase. Judges Thomas Wakeling, Frederica Schutz, and Ronald Berger said the search that the RCMP officers said was routine, involved a "systemic and wholly unacceptable pattern of charter violations by police in Sanikiluaq." The Court's ruling written by Judge Berger stated: "Nunavut and Sanikiluaq are not charter-free zones. The protections that are afforded to all Canadian citizens apply with full force and effect throughout the country."" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
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Information Source 1: |
"R. v. Ippak 2018 NUCA 3 (Nunavut Court of Appeal, 6-19-2018) (Reversing conviction based on trial judge erred not suppressing illegally seized evidence.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.nunavutcourts.ca/index.php/nunavut-court-of-appeal |
Information Source 2: |
"Not a charter-free zone': Appeal court says police can't search luggage based on anonymous tips: Evidence thrown out against Sanikiluaq man; trafficking conviction overturned, By Michelle Pucci, CBC News, June 26, 2018" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/appeal-court-quashes-trafficking-conviction-1.4721885 |
Information Source 3: |
"Drugs seized from suitcase at Sanikiluaq airport allowed as evidence: Nunavut judge allows evidence but agrees Moses Ippak Jr. was arbitrarily detained, CBC News, Jan 12, 2015" |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/drugs-seized-from-suitcase-at-sanikiluaq-airport-allowed-as-evidence-1.2897774 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org