Ralph W. Ripley

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.

The appellant was acquitted at trial of keeping gambling devices after the trial judge found insufficient evidence that the seized video machines were actually used for gambling.

The Court of Appeal set aside the acquittal, ruling the trial judge erred in law by requiring proof of actual use.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and restored the acquittal, holding that the trial judge's refusal to infer the machines were gambling devices was a finding of fact based on evidentiary sufficiency, not an error of law, and therefore the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to intervene.