O. Melnik

The applicant sought a review of a detention order under s. 520(1) of the Criminal Code.

He was charged with possessing crack cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and a loaded restricted firearm.

The court found a material change in circumstances because disclosure revealed the Crown's case was significantly weaker than presented in the initial police synopsis, and the applicant proposed a more stringent release plan including GPS monitoring.

The court concluded that detention was not justified on either the secondary or tertiary grounds and ordered the applicant's release on strict conditions with three sureties.

The three accused faced various charges relating to the importation of 29 kilograms of heroin and 600 grams of opium concealed in a shipping container of marble stone.

At the close of the Crown's case, all three accused brought motions for directed verdicts.

The court dismissed the motions brought by two of the accused, finding sufficient circumstantial evidence from which a jury could reasonably infer their knowledge and participation in the drug importation and trafficking scheme.

However, the court granted the motion for the third accused, the consignee of the shipment, finding no evidence reasonably capable of supporting an inference that he knew about the drugs, and entered not guilty verdicts on his charges.

The three accused were charged with importing cocaine after returning from a vacation in Jamaica.

Border Services Officers found approximately half a kilo of cocaine hidden inside cocoa powder cans in each of their checked suitcases.

The accused immediately disavowed knowledge of the drugs, claiming they were planted by unknown persons.

The court rejected the Crown's argument that 'Occam's Razor' proved guilt and found that the accused's immediate disavowals and testimony raised a reasonable doubt regarding their knowledge of the drugs.

All three accused were found not guilty.

The applicant, charged with importing cocaine after a secondary inspection at the airport, brought an application for third party records seeking CBSA training materials on racial profiling.

She alleged that her referral to secondary inspection was based on racial profiling because she is Black and was travelling from Jamaica.

The court applied the O'Connor test and found that the applicant failed to establish that the requested records were likely to be relevant.

The court held that there was no direct or circumstantial evidence of racial profiling, as travelling from a drug source country was only one of several objective indicators used by the CBSA officer.

The application was dismissed.