A Waterloo man found guilty of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking may be able to walk away from the charge without being convicted.
Peter Whitby, 51, was one of three people charged following a series of police raids in early 2015, including one at his home.
Court heard that cocaine was found in the home’s basement, as well as in a locked metal box hidden inside an ottoman.
In court, Whitby claimed that he had no idea $10,000 worth of drugs were in his home. The former BlackBerry senior operations manager did admit to distributing cocaine to some of his then-coworkers on multiple occasions.
Despite Whitby’s assertions that he knew nothing about the cocaine in question, a judge found him guilty of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Since then, Whitby’s lawyer has argued for the case to be thrown out – citing Supreme Court of Canada guidelines that cases should come to trial within 18 months of an arrest. In Whitby’s case, it had been 23 months.
“It just took too long,” lawyer Hal Mattson said in an interview.
Specifically, Mattson plans to argue that it was unreasonable for Whitby to wait for his trial to start until other people accused in connection with the same investigation had pleaded guilty.
A multi-day hearing on the issue was supposed to begin Monday, but was delayed until June 23.
With reporting by Nicole Lampa
