Chesshire takes the stand in South Delta fentanyl trial

Did Daniel Chesshire knowingly traffic in fentanyl?

That was one of the questions defence attorney Garry MacDonald asked the jury to ponder during his opening statement in a South Delta fentanyl trial on Tuesday morning in New Westminster Supreme Court.

Chesshire is facing one count of trafficking in fentanyl in connection to an incident in September 2016. He earlier pled guilty to one count of trafficking in cocaine.

The court heard previously that in the early hours of Sept. 1, 2016, within a 20-minute span, police received reports of overdoses from three separate locations in South Delta involving nine young adults. In each case, the victims reported respiratory problems, including one person in full cardiac arrest. Delta firefighters and paramedics used Narcan (Naloxone) on six of those who were suffering overdoses. All were treated in hospital.

MacDonald told the jury that when they were chosen on Feb. 14 Chesshire stood up in court and stated loudly that he was guilty of the charge of trafficking in cocaine, but not guilty of trafficking in fentanyl.

“He will testify that he thought that guilty plea covered all three transactions that night, but that turns out to not be the case,” MacDonald said. “He will tell you that he was providing cocaine to his friends that night – a night of end of summer parties.”

MacDonald said after two friends called, Chesshire reluctantly went into Vancouver and stocked up on 10 half grams – eight for his friends and the remaining two free for him to use as he wanted.

“The reason he did this was that he wanted to protect his friends from getting bad drugs or fentanyl – he thought that was what he was doing,” said MacDonald.

MacDonald told the jury that he would do anything for his friends if they asked and that he acted responsibly, admitting his guilt for the cocaine charge.

“He didn’t know that was the very definition of trafficking, but when he found out he took the blame. He really didn’t think it was that serious as people his age started using cocaine at parties in junior high,” MacDonald said. “It was no big deal…it turned out otherwise. Remember when you are listening to Daniel that we was a defence do not have to prove anything. It is the Crown that must prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Daniel knowingly trafficked in fentanyl.”

During his testimony, Chesshire told the jury about his upbringing in South Delta, his elementary school years at Port Guichon and high school at both Delta Secondary and South Delta Secondary. He came from a stable home environment and was instilled the values of hard work while working on his grandfather’s farm and then his father’s landscaping business.

He admitted that he started using drugs, including cocaine recreationally while he was in high school.

After graduating from SDSS, he started working as a chef and kitchen supervisor at White Spot, but left the job in May 2016 feeling that some of the drugs he was taking, namely Codeine and Xanax were having negative effects on his life.

He admitted that he had some depression and mental health issues.

It was also in May that he met the supplier that he bought the cocaine from, a fellow by the name of Rash or Cash that he struck up a conversation with while attending a musical event with friends at a downtown Vancouver club.

Chesshire said he and his friends were concerned about obtaining ‘safe’ drugs and thought this source to be reliable based on a sample one of his friends consumed that night in May and the fact the Chesshire used this source three or four more times throughout the summer.

“Fentanyl was a scary thing and we thought it was ridiculous and how big it was becoming. I never wanted to see that happen to any of my friends,” he said. “My friends were reluctant to do drugs, but when they did, they wanted me to call the guy I met at the club because we had used his product before and believed it was safe.”

He said when he was arrested by police and was interviewed by officers on Sept. 1, 2016 he was scared.

“I really didn’t know what had happened,” he said. “They [the police] very much believed that I was at fault for all of this. I felt guilty, but I never put fentanyl into the drugs that I provided. It hurt my heart that I could have done something to my friends – friends who are like family.”

Under cross-examination, Switzer tried to poke holes in Chesshire’s testimony calling into question his re-collection of the evening’s activities and the encounters with his drug source.

Switzer wondered why Chesshire and his friends would consider a random guy who they met once in a club as a ‘safe source’ for drugs. She also said that he was not telling the truth during his interview with police.

Chesshire said it was a tough interview, that he was tired and had some memory loss due to his drug intoxication, which is why he was maybe not as honest or clear in his answers.

He also said he wanted to protect his friends and not get them wrapped up into something.

Switzer’s cross-examination of Chesshire continued Tuesday afternoon.

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