John D. Embree

The appellant was arrested for attempted murder and briefly consulted a lawyer.

Two hours later, the victim died, and the charge was upgraded to first degree murder.

The appellant requested to speak to her lawyer again but could not reach him due to the late hour.

The police subsequently questioned her, and she provided an inculpatory statement and later led them to the murder weapon.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the change in the charge triggered a renewed right to counsel under s. 10(b) of the Charter.

The police breached this right by failing to provide a reasonable opportunity for her to consult counsel and by eliciting a statement.

The Court excluded the statement and the appellant's conduct in locating the knife under s. 24(2), restoring her manslaughter conviction.

Criminal appeal from conviction for conspiracy to obtain contributions for a governing political party through influence peddling.

The majority held that questioning prospective jurors in private after arraignment and plea, on grounds including possible partiality, formed part of the trial for purposes of s. 577(1) of the Criminal Code and violated the accused's right to be present.

The majority further held that this defect could not be cured by later challenges for cause or by the curative provisions dealing with jury irregularities, and that the process impermissibly intruded into the Code's exclusive scheme for determining juror impartiality.

A new trial was ordered, although the majority indicated agreement with the dissent's resolution of the remaining issues concerning the definition of “person”, the co-conspirators' hearsay exception, and good character instructions.

The appellant, a civilian, was stopped by military police on a public highway just outside a military base after being observed speeding on the base.

The officers noted signs of impairment and issued a breathalyzer demand, which the appellant refused.

He was acquitted at trial on the basis that military police were not 'peace officers' under the Criminal Code with respect to civilians.

The Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that while military police do not have general peace officer status over civilians under s. 2(f)(i), they do qualify as peace officers under s. 2(f)(ii) when enforcing laws on a military base pursuant to the Defence Establishment Trespass Regulations.

The officers retained this authority when stopping the appellant immediately outside the base.