A judge with the Yukon Court of Appeal upheld the acquittal of a man who was charged in the Yukon with possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking.

Jason McMillan, of Vernon, B.C., was charged in 2013 in connection with an RCMP operation called Project Monolith. The investigation focussed on trafficking between the Yukon and the lower mainland.

Police said McMillan’s fingerprints were found on the packaging of a brick of cocaine picked up by a drug dealer-turned police agent.

These fingerprints were a key piece of evidence in the Crown’s case against McMillan in 2015.

Over the course of the three-day trial however, no witnesses (including the police agent) could place McMillan in the Yukon on Aug. 30, 2013, the time period in which the cocaine was transported to the territory.

Because of this, Judge Karen Ruddy acquitted McMillan.

She said there wasn’t enough evidence he was in the Yukon at the time. She also found the fingerprint evidence to be insufficient on its own.

The Crown recognized that the case was circumstantial, but argued, on appeal, that time and place were immaterial.

Court of Appeal Justice Gail Dickson disagreed, saying there was a need for specificity in terms of the time and location of the alleged incident.

She said these pieces were essential elements of the case, and necessary to McMillan’s understanding of the charges against him.

“Among other things, (McMillan’s) counsel focused much of his cross-examination and argument on the poor quality of the evidence placing Mr. McMillan in Yukon at the time and place specified,” Dickson wrote in her decision. “It is obvious both were critical to the defense strategy that was adopted. Accordingly, as the judge found, it was incumbent upon the Crown to prove them beyond a reasonable doubt. It failed to do so.”

Dickson dismissed the Crown’s appeal.

By Amy Kenny Star Reporter