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 - Search and seizure (s. 8) -Exclusion of evidence (s. 24(2)) - Whether search warrant issued in the case was unlawful - Whether the Information to Obtain in this case was incapable of establishing reasonable and probable grounds to believe that an offence was being committed by the accused and that evidence would be located at the accused’s dwelling house - Whether the information to obtain was deficient because the sole informer did not have personal knowledge of the allegations made; the informant was not shown to be credible; and there was no police investigation prior to making the decision to search, or any exigent circumstances - Where there was insufficient evidence of the informant’s reliability, can an accused’s previous record and previous suspicion of the accused vest a confidential informant with needed reliability - Can a justice of the peace also act as a bylaw enforcement officer and still be independent and impartial? - Were the reasons given by the Provincial Court and the Court of Appeal sufficient? - Was the Court’s denial of defence and Crown counsel’s request to submit written arguments a breach of natural justice?

The police searched the home of the accused with a search warrant issued pursuant to the Controlled Drug and Substances Act (Canada). They found 3.9 pounds of marijuana and, on the person of the accused, a large quantity of currency. The accused and his common law wife were charged with an offence contrary to s. 5(2) of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act (Canada). At the commencement of trial, counsel for the accused requested a voir dire on whether the search warrant issued by the justice of the peace in this case was issued unlawfully, and therefore the ensuing search was unlawful and the evidence obtained as a result of it should be excluded from evidence.