A Yorkton circuit judge has sentenced an Alberta man who pleaded guilty in 2013 to marijuana production and trafficking to 18 months in custody less time served.
Luc Bernard D’Abadie appeared before Judge Patrick Koskie in Broadview on January 20 to answer charges related to a grow-op the accused allegedly ran in Grenfell, SK in 2010.
The judge attempted to address the defendant as Mr. D’Abadie, but he refused to answer to that name.
“I may be addressed as Luc,” he said. “I’m here to press my claim upon the Court of Record. If I have said or done anything to lead this court, Crown, its agents or officers that I am a surety, the accused or a person in this matter, that is a mistake and please forgive me.”
As has been apparent since D’Abadie was first picked up in Alberta in November 2015, he has engaged in pseudo-legal tactics associated with a loosely affiliated group of people that have become known as Freemen on the Land. “Court of Record” is a buzzword for a common law court. They believe by refusing to recognize statute law, they cannot be governed by it and that any proceeding must have a claimant and a plaintiff who are both actual persons as opposed to the state or any institution of the state.
To that end, D’Adadie continued to address the Court by reading into the record a claim against federal prosecutor Shane Wagner.
“I, a man, Luc, have been trespassed against by Shane Wagner of Yorkton, Saskatchewan,” he said. “He has trespassed upon my property by way of extortion. He trespassed again and did harm and injury to my property. The commencement of the wrongdoing began September 2010. The wrongdoing and harm continue to this day.
“I require compensation for the initial and continual trespass upon my property. The compensation due is three-hundred and eighty-three thousand dollars. I require court of record trial.”
Koskie acknowledged he had received the claim, but attempted to move on to the matter of another letter he had received from D’Abadie requesting his 2013 guilty plea be expunged.
Koskie read the letter into the record:
“Dear clerk of the court,” it said. “I require that you take notice of the following: I wish the guilty plea entered in 2013 to be rescinded as it was entered upon duress and intimidation after receiving poor legal advice.”
The judge interpreted the letter as a request for an expungement hearing, which he said he thought D’Adadie was entitled to.
A discussion ensued regarding dates for which the judge, the Crown and D’Abadie’s former defence attorney were all available. They settled on April 6, but when Koskie attempted to determine if the date was satisfactory for D’Abadie, the accused once again returned to Freeman tactics.
“I am an idiot to legalese,” he recited for the second time. “All I know is there is no claim against me by a man or a woman for any wrongdoing. I require that my property be restored immediately and that this matter be discharged and closed with prejudice.”
The judge sought to put an end to it.
“Okay, Mr. D’Abadie, do you want an expungement hearing on April 6 or not,” he said. “And, if you give me the same answer all I’m going to tell you is I’m going to sentence you today, so you should decide. Do you need a couple of minutes? You can think about it, but here’s your choices: I am going to sentence you today or I’m going to set it for an expungement hearing.”
D’Abadie continued to try to push his agenda asking, “Are we speaking man to man?”
Koskie answered: “I am speaking judge to the person that’s there. That is the only way I can speak when I have this robe on.”
D’Abadie once again recited his “I am an idiot to legalese” spiel. When he was done, the judge asked Wagner for the circumstances.
The prosecutor laid out the facts that pursuant to D’Abadie’s arrest at the Manitoba border with a quantity of marijuana on September 10, 2010, Broadview RCMP executed a warrant on the accused’s property, an old commercial building on Front Street in Grenfell that had long been used as a theatre.
Inside, investigators found 416 cannabis plants in various stages of growth, 10 pounds of dried and packaged marijuana and an array of sophisticated grow-op equipment.
D’Abadie was charged along with a co-accused who pleaded guilty and received an 18-month conditional sentence.
Unlike the co-accused, D’Abadie managed to drag out his case for three years before entering a guilty in 2013. He did not show up for his sentencing hearing and remained at large until he was picked up by RCMP in Alberta on numerous traffic-related charges for which he was remanded on $7,500 bail.
Wagner told the Court the Crown was seeking 18 months incarceration and submitted a two-page Saskatchewan Court of Appeal sentencing digest indicating it was an appropriate sentence.
The judge once again gave D’Abadie an opportunity to address the matter, but the accused once again repeated his mantra adding, “I understand this to be a court of record, I have pressed upon the Court my claim against this man Shane Wagner, would you like me to repeat the claim?”
Koskie said he did not.
“Mr. D’Abadie,” he said. “I have given you a number of opportunities to speak with respect to your sentence; I’ve given you a number of opportunities with respect to an expungement hearing.”
After once again listening to the accused’s mantra, Koskie moved on to sentencing, accepting the Crown’s request for 18 months and crediting D’Abadie with 33 days for the 22 he has spent in custody since he was returned to Saskatchewan.
Before D’Abadie was taken away he attempted to get the judge to state his first and last name for the record. When Koskie refused, D’Abadie pressed on.
“I require that you enter your name for the public record,” he said.
“What you require doesn’t interest me, Mr. D’Abadie,” Koskie said. “I am done today.”
D’Abadie still faces numerous charges in Alberta.
