The sentencing process has started for a Ladner man found guilty in connection to a well-publicized South Delta fentanyl overdose case in 2016.
On Thursday in New Westminister Supreme Court, Daniel Chesshire learned he will find out his sentence on one count of trafficking fentanyl on Sept. 30.
After 10 days of testimony and eight hours of jury deliberations over two days, Chesshire was found guilty at his trial in early March in a unanimous decision by a jury of 10 women and two men.
Following the decision, defence attorney Garry MacDonald immediately moved for a stay on the fentanyl charge based on the Kienapple case, a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that established the rule against multiple convictions. It contends an accused cannot be convicted of two offences where they both arise out of substantially the same facts.
MacDonald said the judge heard arguments on the double jeopardy status in June, with the judge rendering his ruling Thursday.
MacDonald told the Optimist in an email the judge ruled in their favour and stayed a cocaine trafficking charge Chesshire pled guilty to prior to the start of his trial.
“The judge then ruled against Mr. Chesshire in a motion to have the remaining charge stayed for delay – 36 months since the events,” said MacDonald.
In the early hours of Sept. 1, 2016, within a 20-minute span, police received reports of overdoses at three locations in South Delta involving nine young adults, all of whom survived.
