amccuaig@medicinehatnews.com
A new trial date has been set for a man previously acquitted on drug trafficking charges stemming from a million dollar cocaine seizure at an Alberta-Montana border crossing six years ago.
Former Brooks resident Jason Chester Bjelland, 37,  was arrested on Dec. 23, 2003 after a Canadian border agent sniffer dog discovered 22 kilograms of cocaine in the truck the accused was allegedly driving.
However, failures of the Crown to provide full disclosure surrounding the case plagued the 2006 trial and Bjelland was acquitted on the charges.
In a 2008 Crown appeal of the acquittal, the Alberta Court of Appeal handed down a split-decision ordering a new trial. That decision was held up by a 2009 Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
A 11-day trial was set on Tuesday and the new proceedings will be held at Lethbridge’s Court of Queen’s Bench starting on Jan. 17, 2011.