B.G. Puddington

The applicant was arrested at gunpoint by plainclothes police officers who suspected him of trafficking heroin from his vehicle.

A warrantless search of the vehicle incident to arrest yielded a large quantity of heroin hidden in false-bottomed aerosol cans and cash.

The applicant brought a Charter application under ss. 8, 9, and 24(2) to exclude the evidence, arguing the police lacked objective reasonable and probable grounds for the arrest.

The court found the arrest was lawful based on the totality of the circumstances observed by the surveillance team.

Alternatively, applying the Grant framework, the court held that even if a Charter breach occurred, the evidence should not be excluded under s. 24(2) given the reliability of the evidence and society's interest in adjudicating the serious charges on their merits.

The accused was charged with possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking and assaulting a police officer.

Police approached the accused in a hotel lobby after receiving a tip that he possessed a large quantity of drugs.

The accused dropped a shopping bag containing approximately one pound of methamphetamine, pushed an officer, and attempted to flee before being subdued with a taser.

At trial the accused denied knowledge of the drugs and denied pushing the officer, claiming he was unknowingly carrying the bag for acquaintances.

The court rejected the accused’s evidence as inherently improbable and inconsistent, accepted the police officers’ testimony, and inferred knowledge of the drugs from the circumstances and the accused’s conduct.