T. Fitzgerald

The applicant sought to exclude evidence obtained during the execution of a search warrant at his residence, arguing a breach of his s. 8 Charter rights.

The warrant was based on a tip from a confidential informant regarding marijuana trafficking.

The court applied the Debot framework to assess whether the informant's tip was compelling, credible, and corroborated.

The court found that while the informant's credibility was unascertainable, the compelling nature of the tip, combined with police corroboration of biographical details and the applicant's criminal record, provided sufficient reasonable and probable grounds for the warrant.

The application was dismissed.

The defendant, a long-term offender subject to a long-term supervision order (LTSO) requiring him to remain within the City of Toronto, was charged with breaching the conditions of his release by being found outside Toronto in Pickering.

The Crown alleged the defendant knowingly violated the territorial restriction.

The defendant testified that he was a passenger in a vehicle driven by his common-law spouse, who became lost while searching for a significant home and inadvertently crossed the Toronto boundary.

The court found the defendant not guilty, holding that being a passenger who took no action to place himself outside the city, and ending up in Pickering as an accident, constituted a reasonable excuse under section 753.3(1) of the Criminal Code.