S. Siew

The accused was found guilty of trafficking in cocaine and possession of proceeds of crime after selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer.

The offences occurred in 2011, prior to amendments restricting conditional sentences.

The court noted the accused's positive rehabilitation, lack of criminal record, and a prior ruling granting a significant sentence reduction due to Charter breaches.

A six-month conditional sentence was imposed.

The accused was charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine and two counts of possession of proceeds of crime arising from undercover drug purchases.

The defence sought a stay of proceedings based on lost evidence relating to the undercover officer’s cell phone number and related records.

The court held that although the police failed to properly record and preserve the phone number, the loss did not result in irremediable prejudice or justify a stay under the principles governing lost evidence and abuse of process.

The identification evidence, including two face‑to‑face drug transactions, a photographic lineup, and circumstantial evidence linking the accused to the apartment associated with the dealer, was sufficient to establish identity beyond a reasonable doubt despite flaws in the lineup procedure.

In this criminal proceeding, the accused brought Charter applications alleging excessive police force during an undercover drug arrest and an unreasonable search incident to arrest.

The court reviewed the evidence of the accused and multiple police officers concerning the takedown, facial injuries, the seizure of buy money, and the recovery of drugs and a cell phone.

Applying the governing principles on justified force and reasonable search incident to lawful arrest, the court found the force used was legally justified and reasonable in the circumstances and that the search was conducted lawfully.

The court rejected the accused's evidence on a central credibility issue, found no breaches of ss. 7 or 8, and dismissed the applications for exclusion under s. 24(2).