ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
BETWEEN:
Jalen Pitt
Applicant
– and –
Her Majesty the Queen
Respondent
H. Bassi, for the Applicant
J. Janiuk, for the Respondent
HEARD: November 22, 23, 24 and December 24, 2021
McCARTHY J.
REASONS ON CHARTER APPLICATION
Background
1The Applicant stands charged on two counts: possession of a loaded restricted firearm and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. These alleged offences took place in the Town of Wasaga Beach on or about September 12, 2018.
The Application
2The Applicant seeks an exclusion of evidence as a remedy under s. 24(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.), 1982, (“the Charter”), c. 11, for alleged infringements of his protected rights under ss. 8, 9 and 10. The application proceeded by way of a blended voir dire.
Investigation and Surveillance
3On September 12, 2018, following an investigation into a possible drug deal by Huronia West O.P.P. (“Huronia West”) within its jurisdiction, a team from the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (“ROPE”) carried out an apprehension (“referred to as “the take down”) of the four occupants of a Nissan Sentra (“the Nissan”) outside of a Dairy Queen restaurant located at 299 Main Street in Wasaga Beach. The Applicant was a front seat passenger in the Nissan. He was in the company of Jerome Pantlitz-Solomon (“JPS”) and two young females. The take down took place at approximately 8:23 p.m.
4In the hours leading up to the take down, Huronia West had received information about an unrelated individual dealing drugs in the area of the Stonebridge Plaza in Wasaga Beach. Officers conducting surveillance in the area believed that they witnessed a drug transaction involving the Nissan. After the suspected transaction, officers took photographs and video of two black males exiting the Nissan. Through information obtained from Peel Regional Police (Peel) in the weeks prior to the surveillance, Huronia West had learned that JPS might be in the Wasaga