Man arrested for drug, weapons offences argues police had no right to search home

A Winnipeg man badly burned in his bed from a Molotov cocktail attack more than 2½ years ago is fighting a series of drug and firearm charges laid after investigators searched his scorched home and allegedly found cocaine, scales, money and guns.

On Monday, during the first day of what stands to be a 10-day trial, Justin Kirstein pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including possessing drugs for the purposes of trafficking. Investigators allegedly found cocaine during a search of his Young Street home, following a fire in 2016.

Kirstein, 28, is arguing his charter rights were violated when police unlawfully searched his property and obtained a statement after the fire.

At about 4 a.m. on July 16, 2016, Kirstein was asleep when a brick sailed through his bedroom window ,followed by a Molotov cocktail. He woke up covered in flames and sustained serious burns to his arms and legs. 

Kirstein and three others escaped the home but were later arrested, with Kirstein initially being charged with 26 offences.

Investigators found 158 grams of cocaine, about $16,000 in a singed briefcase that was underneath his bed and a number of weapons, court heard. 

Along with the drug trafficking offence, Kirstein also pleaded not guilty to illegally possessing proceeds from crime, possessing a rifle without a licence, possessing an illegal sawed off shotgun and possessing a live shotgun shell. He is pleading not guilty to three counts of possessing a firearm while prohibited, as well.

Accused makes own case

Kirstein, who turfed his lawyer a week before the trial, is representing himself. Rather than potentially wait months to be reassigned a new defense attorney, he told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Robert Dewar he was eager to get the trial underway on his own.

"I want to get this dealt with as soon as possible," Kirstein, dressed in a black suit and with his ankles shackled, told court. Scars from the fire on his right wrist and hand were visible.

Federal Crown prosecutors Hugh Crawley and Neil Steen said scales, tinfoil, client drug debt records and a charred briefcase with thousands of dollars in cash were found on the property, along with a few weapons.

The Crown called just one witness in Patrol-Sgt. Glen Gatien, a 15-year member of the Winnipeg Police Service who works in the forensic identification unit.

Guns, knives, drugs at home

Steen told court police were asked to comb through the home after the fire was extinguished; Gatien was tasked with photographing the inside and outside of the property.

He told court several windows had burst during the fire, while a few others were boarded up prior to the attack.

There was a doubled-barrel sawed-off shotgun, a rifle and machete found behind a bush in the backyard of the home, Gatien says, which investigators covered with a plastic bag shortly after he arrived when it started to rain.

Gatien said inside the kitchen, on a counter, he saw a plastic bag with a solid white substance in it, and a shotgun shell. A "double-edged throwing style knife" and a digital scale were on a nearby ledge.

He testified he saw a canister of bear spray, two bongs and a small bag of what appeared to be marijuana inside, and a note under one of the bongs with a bunch of numbers added up.

Scales test positive for cocaine

A safe was located on top of a dryer in the basement, and a burned briefcase, which investigators estimated had about $16,000 in case inside, was found beneath the bed where Kirstein was burned.

Upon cross-examination, Kirstein asked Gatien whether a melted white substance on the scales had been tested by police. Crawley said lab tests of scales recovered in the home turned up positive for cocaine.

Two males originally hit with a series of arson offences in connection with the fire-bombing had all charges acquitted at trial earlier this year. A publication ban was enforced so they can no longer be identified. 

At that trial in January, Kirstein told court he was a former member of a B-Side street gang. He believed his attack was a form of retaliation from members of the Mad Cowz gang because the two-storey home he moved into on Young Street was in their territory.

Kirstein, a woman and two teen boys were all treated and eventually released from hospital after the fire, which caused an estimated $105,000 worth of damage.

Justice Dewar will be hearing more testimony Tuesday as the second day of the trial gets underway.