The appellant, a police officer, appealed his conviction for careless storage of a firearm, arguing the trial judge applied a standard of perfection.
The Crown cross-appealed the sentence of an absolute discharge, arguing it was demonstrably unfit and that the trial judge improperly deferred to police disciplinary proceedings.
The Superior Court of Justice dismissed both appeals.
The court found the trial judge correctly applied the 'marked departure' standard to the appellant's storage of his service weapon in an unlocked plastic drawer.
On sentence, while noting the absolute discharge was extremely lenient, the court held it was not demonstrably unfit given the collateral consequences the appellant faced under the Police Services Act.
