The applicant, Encan Zhu, sought a stay of proceedings or, alternatively, the exclusion of a BB pistol as evidence, alleging multiple violations of his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (sections 7, 8, 9, 10(a), 10(b)).
The court found that exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry into his residence for arrest.
However, the subsequent police questioning about the gun after the right to counsel was invoked, and the search of a closed shoebox on a balcony, constituted violations of sections 8 and 10(b) of the Charter.
The court denied the request for a stay of proceedings, concluding that the police conduct, while a serious breach by an experienced officer, did not amount to a pattern of egregious abuse or bad faith warranting such a drastic remedy.
Nevertheless, applying the R. v. Grant factors, the court ordered the exclusion of the BB pistol from evidence under section 24(2) of the Charter, determining that its admission would bring the administration of justice into disrepute, despite the evidence being real and inevitably discoverable.
