The accused, who is deaf, brought a Charter application to exclude firearms and drugs seized from his residence during the execution of a search warrant.
He argued the warrant was based on stale information and that police breached his s. 10(b) right to counsel by failing to accommodate his hearing impairment.
The court found the search warrant was validly issued.
However, the court found a s. 10(b) breach because police failed to provide appropriate technology or assistance to allow the accused to effectively communicate with duty counsel, despite knowing of his disability.
Applying the Grant framework, the court excluded the evidence under s. 24(2) due to the serious, systemic nature of the police failure to accommodate hearing-impaired detainees.
