Case information

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Charter of Rights - Criminal law – Evidence – Admissibility – Offences – Proceeds of crime – Accused convicted of possession and transportation of proceeds of crime - Whether subsequent, unrelated incidents should have been admitted as evidence at trial – Whether accused could be convicted of possessing and transporting proceeds of crime without prior conviction for another related crime

In April of 2005, Mr. Hobbs purchased a return ticket to Vancouver departing from Halifax the following day. At the time, he was under police surveillance and was observed checking a piece of luggage at the airport check-in counter. His suitcase was tracked and placed with other randomly selected luggage processed for the same flight. A police sniffer dog pointed to the bag tagged with Mr. Hobbs’ name and it was seized. The police suspected that it contained narcotics or money contaminated with narcotics. They obtained a search warrant and discovered clothing and $32,000 in cash inside. A subsequent scan of the clothing and suitcase indicated the presence of cocaine. In July of 2005, Mr. Hobbs was arrested in a hotel room New York City, where the police found 100 pounds of marihuana and $178,000 US. After serving pre-trial time in prison there, Mr. Hobbs pled guilty to a felony conviction for possession of marihuana. In August of 2005, the police executed a search warrant on a house leased to Mr. Hobbs in Halifax, where they discovered a marihuana grow operation in the basement. He was charged with possession for the purposes of trafficking and production of marihuana. Later that month, Mr. Hobbs was charged with possessing and transporting the proceeds of crime with respect to the money in the suitcase.