The accused were charged with possession of methamphetamine and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
In a pre-trial application, they argued their Charter rights under ss. 8, 9, and 10 were violated during a police stop in a parking lot, and sought exclusion of the seized drugs and cell phones under s. 24(2).
The court found that the accused were arbitrarily detained and their rights to counsel were violated, rendering the subsequent searches unreasonable.
However, applying the Grant framework, the court concluded that the police acted in good faith and society's interest in adjudicating the serious charges on their merits outweighed the breaches.
The application to exclude the evidence was dismissed.
