This criminal trial addressed charges of possession of a restricted handgun.
The court first heard a blended Charter application, alleging violations of sections 9 (unlawful arrest due to lack of reasonable and probable grounds) and 8 (unreasonable search incident to arrest).
The court found no Charter violations, determining that police had subjective and objective reasonable and probable grounds for arrest based on extensive wiretap evidence and that the search incident to arrest was lawful.
Subsequently, the court proceeded to the trial on the merits, finding the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant possessed a restricted firearm with knowledge, largely relying on circumstantial evidence, including the interpretation of intercepted communications.
The defendant was found guilty as charged.
