The accused was charged with impaired driving and admitted guilt at trial, but sought a stay of proceedings due to multiple Charter breaches.
Despite having no criminal record, strong ties to Ontario, and being cooperative, the accused was detained for a show cause hearing solely because he resided in the Northwest Territories.
The court found this constituted arbitrary detention under s. 9 of the Charter.
This arbitrary detention led to an unjustified strip search at the jail, breaching s. 8.
Furthermore, the police failed to inform the accused of the reasons for his continued detention or his right to counsel, breaching ss. 10(a) and 10(b).
Given the cumulative effect of these breaches and the inability to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence, the court granted a stay of proceedings under s. 24(1).
