Jian Chen was charged with trafficking one kilogram of ketamine.
The case involved a complex police investigation where Chen was not the initial target but was observed transferring ketamine to the target of the investigation.
Chen challenged the admissibility of evidence on the basis of breaches of his Charter rights under sections 10(a) and 10(b), specifically delays and failures in providing timely and effective rights to counsel due to language barriers and police procedural shortcomings.
The court found breaches of these rights but declined to exclude the evidence under section 24(2) of the Charter, considering the police acted in good faith and the breaches were contextually minor.
The court convicted Chen of trafficking, emphasizing the importance of reasonable police diligence in facilitating access to counsel of choice, especially in multilingual contexts.
