The applicants sought relief under ss. 8 and 24(2) of the Charter, arguing that a search warrant authorizing the search of their motel room lacked reasonable grounds and that the resulting drug evidence should be excluded.
The reviewing judge found that the information to obtain contained omissions and inaccuracies and that reasonable grounds to search the motel room did not exist, rendering the search unreasonable under s. 8.
However, applying the framework from Grant and Harrison, the court concluded the police acted in overall good faith and that the misleading aspects of the warrant materials were at the lower end of seriousness.
Given the reliability and importance of the seized drug evidence and society’s interest in adjudicating serious trafficking charges on their merits, exclusion under s. 24(2) was not warranted.
