François Lacasse

The appellant was convicted at trial of drug offences including possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of oxycodone, production of marijuana, and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions, finding that although the trial judge erred in relying on the wrong legislative provision to admit cell phone data and may have erred in allowing the Crown to reopen its case and in admitting an accused's statement without a voluntariness voir dire, the curative proviso applied because the Crown's case was overwhelming.

The Supreme Court majority agreed, finding the pre-reopening evidence was overwhelming and the curative proviso was properly applied.

The dissent would have allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial on the basis that allowing the Crown to split its case led to an unfair trial that could not be cured.

The Court allowed multiple appeals from pre-trial and appellate orders that had permitted accused former police officers to discuss informer-privileged information with defence counsel.

It held the declaratory order was criminal in nature, that objections and appeal routes under sections 37 and 37.1 of the Canada Evidence Act were available, and that informer privilege could not be pierced absent a successful innocence-at-stake application.

The appellant challenged a Court of Appeal decision that set aside his acquittals and ordered a new trial in a prosecution involving a telewarrant and Charter search-and-seizure issues.

The central issues were whether the issuing judicial justice's impartiality was compromised and whether the impracticability requirement for a telewarrant was met.

The Court agreed substantially with Justice Frankel's reasons in the Court of Appeal.

The appeal was dismissed and the order for a new trial stood.