This decision addresses Charter applications by Jonathan Cumming and Lenore Westendorp to exclude evidence obtained during a traffic stop and subsequent search.
The court found that Ms. Westendorp’s section 8 Charter rights were breached by an unreasonable search of her vehicle, as her consent was not fully informed or voluntary.
The evidence was excluded as against her.
Mr. Cumming, as a suspended driver, was found to have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the vehicle and thus lacked standing to challenge the search under section 8.
The court clarified that exclusion of evidence can apply to one accused but not another, depending on whose Charter rights were violated.
