Brian Higgins

The Crown brought an application alleging the defendant breached his conditional sentence order after police executed a search warrant at his residence and found illicit drugs.

The defendant sought to challenge the validity of the search warrant under s. 24(2) of the Charter.

The Crown argued that a judge presiding over a breach hearing under s. 742.6 of the Criminal Code is not a court of competent jurisdiction to hear Charter applications.

The court disagreed, following R. v. Palmer, and held that it has jurisdiction to hear the Charter application.

The matter was adjourned to allow the Crown to provide the redacted Information to Obtain (ITO) to the defence.

The offender pleaded guilty to possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possession of methamphetamine and cocaine, possession of property obtained by crime, and possession of prohibited weapons.

The police seized 156.7 grams of fentanyl, some mixed with carfentanil and heroin, along with tasers and cash in a residence where the offender's young children lived.

The court weighed the extreme danger of fentanyl and the presence of weapons against the offender's guilty plea, lack of prior record, and harsh pre-sentence custody conditions.

A global sentence of 8 years was imposed, reduced by 740 days of enhanced credit for pre-sentence custody.