B. Puddington

The Crown brought an application to admit the notes and property reports of a deceased police officer under the principled exception to the hearsay rule.

The officer, who had participated in the execution of search warrants related to the accused's drug charges, died of a fentanyl overdose before trial.

While necessity was conceded, the court found the Crown failed to establish threshold reliability.

The court noted inaccuracies in the officer's reports, potential inconsistencies with other evidence, and the inability to cross-examine the officer on his drug use and its potential impact on his perception and memory.

The application was dismissed.

The accused brought a Charter application seeking exclusion of evidence arising from his arrest for cocaine trafficking and the subsequent search of a condominium unit where police seized nine kilograms of cocaine.

He alleged breaches of ss. 8 and 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms relating to unlawful arrest, seizure of keys and a key fob, warrantless retrieval of fob access information, warrantless entry into a condominium unit, and alleged deficiencies in the Information to Obtain a search warrant.

The court held that police had reasonable and probable grounds for arrest based on surveillance of a suspected drug transaction and subsequent flight.

While the warrantless entry into the condominium unit violated s. 8 because exigent circumstances were not established, the subsequent search warrant remained valid after excision of impugned material.

Applying the s. 24(2) analysis, the court admitted the seized cocaine, finding the Charter breach modest and the evidence highly reliable and essential to the Crown’s case.