The appellant was convicted of accessing child pornography following the execution of a search warrant at his residence where police obtained passwords for electronic devices and seized digital evidence.
The trial judge found multiple Charter breaches but admitted most of the seized evidence, excluding only material obtained from a cellphone.
On appeal, the court held that the trial judge erred by characterizing the s. 8 breach as minimal despite findings that officers routinely sought passwords without valid consent, reflecting systemic misconduct.
Applying the Grant framework anew, the court excluded the contents of a computer but admitted evidence from a USB thumb drive and photographs taken during the search.
The conviction was set aside and a new trial ordered.
