The appellants were acquitted at trial on charges of keeping gambling devices and keeping a common gaming house.
The Crown appealed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, which allowed the appeals and ordered new trials, finding that the police seizure of gambling devices in business establishments open to the public did not violate the Charter.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the accused's appeals, adopting the reasons of the Court of Appeal that there was no reasonable expectation of privacy in a business establishment open to the public.
