a day ago
Mountie says he held man's cash because of 'jerk' defence lawyer
A New Brunswick RCMP officer testifying at a drug trafficking trial this week was questioned by the defence about theft charges he himself faces in an unrelated case.
Const. Christopher Sorensen, 37, was charged last October with four counts of theft and one count of breach of trust. He's scheduled to stand trial starting in March next year.
New details about the allegations emerged Wednesday when the lawyer for an accused drug trafficker called Sorensen as a witness to answer questions about the theft charges against him.
Sorensen told the court that another defence lawyer requested money seized during a police search be returned to a client. Sorensen said he didn't immediately return the money because he didn't like the lawyer.
"I had it, but I was acting like a jerk because I had been treated like a jerk by [the lawyer], so I was just taking my time," Sorensen said while testifying by phone.
Searched home of trafficking suspect
Sorensen has been suspended by the RCMP and said he expects to retire from the force within a month.
He was called to testify at the trial of Randy Scopie, who is accused of drug trafficking. Sorensen was one of the officers who searched Scopie's southeast New Brunswick home in May 2022.
None of Sorensen's charges relate to Scopie, and Sorensen testified he didn't seize any of his money that wasn't properly documented.
Scopie's trial began in January 2024 but halted after allegations about Sorensen surfaced.
Defence lawyer Nathan Gorham, representing Scopie, subpoenaed Sorensen to testify about his role in searching Scopie's home and the officer's unrelated alleged crimes.
Sorensen said he was uncomfortable testifying given his mental health and the allegations against him.
The defence lawyer told Sorensen his testimony in the Moncton case as a compelled witness could not be used against him in his own trial.
Sorensen testified that there were two instances where he did not return cash that had been seized during investigations but was no longer evidence. Neither involved Scopie. He denied intending to keep money.
"I would say, did I take money? No," Sorensen said.
"I kept it in my possession at the office until the appropriate time to return it."
Later in his testimony, he said he still has one man's cash hidden away in a sealed evidence bag.
"What lawful reason do you have to have [his] money?" Gorham asked.
"None," Sorensen responded.
Lawyer sought return of money
Sorensen testified the man wasn't convicted, and his defence lawyer sought to have the cash returned in January 2024. The amount of money wasn't mentioned during Sorensen's testimony.
He said he didn't return the money right away because the defence lawyer "had driven me crazy over the years."
"I was straight up being an asshole. That's how I was treated. I know it's not right, but yeah."
Sorensen testified he intended to return the money to the lawyer.
He brought it with him to a meeting with a police psychologist in Fredericton, he said, but never returned to work after the meeting.
"I was literally so messed up," Sorensen said. "The intentions were to return it. I was supposed to have meetings with my boss. Next thing I know I'm suspended."
He said he realized he still had the money sometime after he was suspended.
"It's in a location where I felt safe putting it," he said, saying it would likely take a few days to organize its retrieval.
Supervisors aware
Sorensen was asked if his bosses were aware.
"My supervisors were aware of what I was doing," he said, naming two officers. "They were aware."
Sorensen testified he has been a Mountie for 17 years, with postings in Alberta and Nunavut before relocating to New Brunswick and the Woodstock detachment in 2016.
He joined a provincial crime reduction unit, which is how he became involved in the Scopie case. The unit operates throughout the province, dealing with high-risk violence, firearms and drug trafficking.
Sorensen said a practice developed in the unit to move cash that was supposed to be returned to people from a main exhibit locker with limited access to another locker with easier access.
Sorensen said he put the cash, along with other items meant to be returned, such as firearms and phones, in a locker that could be opened with a key he kept with him or a second key left on his desk.
The lawyer asked how many people were there whose money may have been stored in the locker and supposed to be returned.
"I'm a major procrastinator, so probably a few," Sorensen replied.
Man hard to locate
He said one man's cash remained in the locker for months because the person was "a couch surfer" who was hard to locate. He said the money was eventually given to a member of the man's family. He agreed with Gorham that it hadn't been given back in a timely fashion.
Gorham's questions probed the locker practice, whether it followed RCMP policies, and if other officers did the same thing. Sorensen had few answers, repeatedly responding that it was just how it was done with the unit.
Sorensen's own defence lawyer, Bruce Phillips, wasn't present in court for some of the testimony but did appear in the afternoon. Phillips declined to comment to CBC News.
