Luc Brazeau

During a s. 8 Charter voir dire in a firearms prosecution, the Crown sought to qualify a forensic document chemist as an expert in ink dating using the solvent loss ratio method to analyze a police officer’s note allegedly documenting information from a confidential informant.

The defence opposed the admission of the proposed expert evidence.

Applying the framework for novel scientific evidence, the court considered whether the technique had been tested, peer reviewed, subject to standards or known error rates, and generally accepted.

The court found the methodology lacked peer review, established standards, demonstrated testing, and general acceptance in the relevant forensic community.

The proposed evidence was therefore inadmissible and, in any event, had little probative value because the analysis could not determine the age of the ink.

The accused brought a Charter motion alleging a breach of s. 8 arising from searches conducted pursuant to warrants for a residence and vehicle during a firearms investigation.

The reviewing court excised misleading portions of the Information to Obtain after finding that certain statements about a vehicle and police observations were inaccurate or reckless.

Applying the principles governing warrant review and the Debot criteria for confidential informant information, the court found that although the tip was detailed and compelling, the source was untested and the alleged criminal activity was not sufficiently corroborated by police investigation.

After excision, the remaining record did not provide reasonable and probable grounds for the issuance of the search warrant.

The court therefore concluded that the applicant’s s. 8 Charter rights were infringed.