Mark Brayford

The appellants were stopped in a commercial truck during a random roadside check.

The police officer discovered regulatory violations and, during a search of the cab for documents, found $115,000 in a duffle bag.

The appellants were arrested for possession of proceeds of crime.

A subsequent search of the trailer revealed 392 pounds of marijuana in a hidden compartment.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the initial stop and regulatory search were lawful and did not violate the Charter.

The arrest was based on reasonable and probable grounds, and the search of the trailer was a valid search incidental to arrest.

Although a later inventory search violated section 8, the evidence was admitted under section 24(2).

The appeal was dismissed.

The appellant was convicted of second degree murder after taking the life of his severely disabled daughter.

At trial, the judge removed the defence of necessity from the jury after closing addresses and instructed the jury not to concern itself with the penalty.

Following conviction, the trial judge granted a constitutional exemption from the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment without parole eligibility for 10 years.

The Court of Appeal restored the mandatory minimum sentence.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeals against conviction and sentence, holding that there was no air of reality to the defence of necessity, the trial was not rendered unfair by the timing of the ruling or the judge's instructions, and the mandatory minimum sentence did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under s. 12 of the Charter given the gravity of the offence.