5b27a872   
   XPost: can.general, can.politics, ott.general   
   From: Canuck57@nospam.com   
      
   On 09/08/2011 11:04 AM, Alan Baggett wrote:   
   > Man traumatized in search stripped of $1.3M award   
   >   
   > By: Bethany Lindsay, ctvbc.ca   
   > Date: Wednesday Jul. 6, 2011 4:26 PM PT   
   >   
   > B.C.'s highest court has thrown out a $1.3-million award handed to a   
   > man who says he developed post-traumatic stress disorder after tax   
   > officials searched his office.   
   >   
   > Hal Neumann sued the Canada Revenue Agency after employees showed up   
   > unannounced to search his Saanich home office as part of a tax-evasion   
   > investigation into someone he had done business with. The   
   > investigators had a warrant, but Neumann argued that he was profoundly   
   > impacted by the surprise search and what he termed a "negligent   
   > investigation."   
   >   
   > In a decision Wednesday, the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned a jury's   
   > 2009 ruling that investigators had violated Neumann's rights and that   
   > he deserved a massive cash award in compensation.   
   >   
   > "The arrival of police officers at one's home armed with a warrant to   
   > search is doubtless an upsetting and frightening event for anyone who   
   > experiences it," Justice Catherine Anne Ryan wrote on behalf of the   
   > appeal court panel.   
   >   
   > "That said, the search warrant is an important and accepted   
   > enforcement tool utilized by those charged with investigating crime.   
   > If a search warrant is lawfully obtained and executed, those subjected   
   > to it cannot seek compensation for its unintended repercussions."   
   >   
   > Neumann, who earns a living buying and selling used heavy equipment,   
   > was at his desk on Sept. 7, 2005 when investigators arrived at his   
   > door accompanied by police and presented him with a warrant to search   
   > the house, according to court documents.   
   >   
   > Even though he was told that he wasn't under investigation, Neumann   
   > testified in court that he was worried about being killed if he didn't   
   > cooperate – an understandable concern for a man who had escaped   
   > totalitarian East Germany with his family as a boy.   
   > A psychiatrist who examined him testified that Neumann was seriously   
   > traumatized by the search, and would have suffered less distress if   
   > investigators had simply warned him before they showed up.   
   >   
   > But investigators said they were unaware before they arrived that   
   > Neumann's office was also his home, and that they were careful to stay   
   > out of his living areas once they were aware of the situation.   
   >   
   > The appeal court agreed that police and CRA officials had done nothing   
   > wrong during their investigation, and that they had done all they   
   > could to confine their search to Neumann's office.   
   >   
   > "There was no evidence to support a claim of unreasonable search,"   
   > Ryan wrote. "The award for damages for a Charter breach is untenable   
   > and must be set aside."   
   >   
   > -----------------------------------------------------------   
   > Miss a Tax Tale Miss a lot!   
   > Visit the CRA SOTW Library at http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com   
   > ------------------------------------------------------------   
   > Alan Baggett – http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/taxbible/ordering.html –   
   > Tax Collector’s Bible   
      
   So judge overturns a jury verdict if I get this right.   
      
   Hm, government always wins.  I am not sure $1.3M is right, but a jury   
   should over ride an in the pocket judge.   
      
   --   
   Seems like paying your bills with real money is no longer the accepted   
   behavior in USA.  Perhaps that is the problem and not the the solution.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)