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A California woman serving a nine-year sentence for her role in attempting to bring 84 kilograms of cocaine across the Canadian border into Alberta has been granted a new trial.
Kirandeep Kaur Toor and her husband, Gurminder Singh Toor, were arrested at the Coutts border crossing in December 2017 after the drug stash was discovered in the sleeping compartment of a semi-trailer hauling produce.
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It was the largest cocaine seizure by Canadian border officers in Alberta at the time.
Kirandeep Toor, who was a passenger in the truck and denied any knowledge of the illicit cargo, testified at her trial that the drugs must have been planted by strangers while the couple showered and ate during a stop in Great Falls, Mont.
She was convicted on charges of possession and importing drugs into the country and is now serving her sentence with a 22-month-old daughter born during her incarceration.
Gurminder Toor was convicted of importation and possession for the purpose of trafficking but the later recanting of his testimony opened the door to a new trial for his wife.
Following his trial, Gurminder stated his testimony was false, and that only he and a dispatcher knew the bricks of cocaine were in the vehicle. He apologized to his wife in a letter and wrote an affidavit stating he had concealed the plan from her.
“I have chosen to confess to the lies I said in court and admit to my true involvement with the drugs because of the guilt I was feeling,” he wrote.
The Alberta Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision, determined the fresh evidence, if believed, could result in an acquittal at a new trial.
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Prosecutors had opposed the husband’s new evidence, arguing he cannot be believed.
Justice Peter Martin, writing in the affirmative with Justice Anne Kirker, said there’s no direct evidence implicating Kirandeep in the crime.
“There is only circumstantial evidence from which the appellant’s knowledge may be inferred, but that circumstantial evidence cannot exclude other reasonable inferences, including the prospect that Mr. Toor intentionally kept the appellant in the dark about the drugs and that she did not know there were drugs in the vehicle,” Martin wrote in granting the appeal.
In the judgment, Martin said the husband’s false testimony might also have swayed jurors.
“I do not find Mr. Toor’s recantation and affidavit evidence are true, only that that evidence is reasonably capable of belief, and if believed, could reasonably be expected to affect the result,” he wrote.
Justice Jolaine Antonio opposed the decision.
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