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The court granted bail to a young man charged as a getaway driver in an attempted murder, finding the Crown's circumstantial case weak on identity.
A 19-year-old Canadian citizen with no criminal record was charged with 13 offences including attempt murder, occupying a motor vehicle with a firearm, and related firearms offences arising from a shooting incident in Toronto.
The Crown sought detention on primary, secondary, and tertiary grounds in a reverse onus hearing.
The accused proposed a plan of house arrest with two sureties (his mother and sister).
The court found the Crown's case was circumstantial with significant evidentiary weaknesses regarding the identity of the getaway driver.
The court granted release on strict conditions, finding the accused had met his onus on all three grounds.
Drug evidence excluded and charges dismissed after traffic stop found to be unlawful pretext.
The defendant was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of cocaine following a pat down search during a traffic stop.
The Crown's case rested on evidence obtained from the search.
The court found that the initial stop, while ostensibly for Highway Traffic Act violations, was a pretext to investigate bail compliance.
The detention that followed was unlawful and arbitrary.
The subsequent pat down search, characterized as a safety search, was in fact conducted to locate drugs rather than weapons.
The court excluded the evidence under section 24(2) of the Charter and dismissed the charges.
