Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Canadian Charter - Criminal Law - Right to Counsel - Right to Silence - Detention - Evidence - Whether applicant was detained when questioned by police - Test for determining when an accused is detained - Whether accused must know he or she is detained - Whether applicant was not promptly informed of reasons for detention - Whether applicant's waiver of right to silence and right to counsel was valid and fully informed.

The police suspected the applicant of murdering Peggy-Jo Barkley-Dube and obtained warrants to take a blood sample, to take hand print impressions, and to search his home, car and workplace. They decided not to execute the warrants until after they interviewed the applicant in hopes of extracting an admission or a confession. They approached the applicant, told him he was not under arrest and they requested an interview. They told the applicant that he was a suspect and that he might be charged. They did not advise him of the warrants and they told him he was free to go. The applicant believed he could leave. He was cautioned on his right to silence and his right to counsel twice before the interview. During the interview, he provided information that led the police to decide to search his parent's house. When the applicant attempted to leave the interview, the officers exercised their warrants and seized a blood sample and hand impressions. Based on information gained during the interview, the police obtained a warrant and searched the applicant's parent's house where they seized his running shoes. The Crown's case was entirely circumstantial and depended in large part upon expert opinion that there was a probable match between one of the applicant's running shoes and a partial footwear impression found at the crime scene. Small traces of the applicant's blood also were found in Barkley-Dube's house but the applicant explained that he had re-opened a cut on his finger while in the house to retrieve golf making equipment he shared with Barkley-Dube's husband.