Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Justice decision R. v. Hoggar, 2024 ONCJ 546 where an officer found drugs, a loaded handgun and extended magazines after arresting a man for PPT, towing his vehicle to a private garage, searching more than an hour later, all while using a K9 to sniff it and dismantling its door panels. No exigent circumstances existed nor did the officer obtain a search warrant. Did the delay and manner in ...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Supreme Court of Canada decision R. v. Sabiston, 2024 SCC 33 where police arrested a known gang member for possessing stolen property. He was seen walking in a high gang crime area while wearing a bullet-proof vest that looked just like the type worn by police. After searching the man, a sawed-off shotgun was found in his backpack. Despite concluding the arrest was unlawful and police conduct breached s. 8 ...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Court of Quebec decision R. v. Hennigar, 2024 QCCQ 4849 where police entered an apartment on the invite of a co-habitant to recover a loaded pistol she had found while cleaning a closet. Could the co-resident validly consent to the police entry in the accused's absence ? Could the police conduct also be justified as a safety search? Or was a warrant required? Listen for the answers to these and other questi...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Buffong, 2024 ONCA 660 where police received a tip from a confidential informer that an individual would be at a Thunder Bay bus station — with money and a handgun — intending on travelling to Toronto. When police went to the bus station, they saw a man matching the description provided by the tipster and took steps to detain him. When an officer reached out to pat the...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Manitoba Court of Appeal decision R. v. McKenzie, 2022 MBCA 3 where a man was seen running while clenching the left side of his body with his elbow. When the officer called out to the man, the officer recognized him as a gang member. The man reacted by picking up his pace, leading the officer to suspect the man might have a weapon concealed between his left arm and his body. After a short foot pursuit, the ...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Khandakar, 2024 ONCA 620 where the driver of a vehicle changed their mind and wanted to provide an ASD breath sample after being arrested for refusing to do so. Just when does an unequivocal refusal to provide an ASD sample constitute the actus reus for a refusal charge? How much time does a driver have to change their mind? Criminal Code provisions:s. 320.15 (1) Every...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses Statistics Canada's most recent crime data and highlights the increase of assaults against peace officers. LinksStatistics Canada Data by Policing District/ZonePolice Reported Crime in Canada, 2023 (CSI) infographicUnderstanding and Using the Crime Severity Index Police-reported Information Hub: Selected Crime IndicatorsPolice-reported Information Hub: Criminal ViolationsPolice-reported Information Hub: Ge...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Attard, 2024 ONCA 616 where police — investigating a serious motor vehicle collision — seized the accused’s car, removed its event data recorder (EDR) and extracted the data, all without judicial authorization or consent. Was this warrantless conduct lawful? Could the data be used in court at the accused’s trial on a charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm? The...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions – 2024 Results: BUILDING TRUST IN A COMPLEX POLICY ENVIRONMENT OECD. The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) asked people in 30 countries about how much they trusted 11 public institutions, including the courts and judicial system, national parliament, news media and police. Just how did the police stack up against these instit...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Cameron, 2024 ONCA 231 where police — responding to a home invasion style robbery — detained a man leaving the scene in a vehicle. Was taking his keys to prevent his flight reasonable as an incident to investigative detention? Was telling him the police were “investigating a serious incident that happened in the area” sufficient to comply with s. 10(a)? Was moving him ...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Brown, 2024 ONCA 453 where police executed a Feeney warrant to arrest a man as part of the multi-jurisdictional investigation of a gang suspected of criminal activity, including trafficking in drugs and firearms. The warrant did not authorize a no-knock entry but police used a ram to break down the door without prior announcement anyways. A trial judge found the dynami...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Supreme Court's 2023 Year in Review. How do last year's stats stack up against previous years? What does it mean for a decision to be unanimous? And how often does the court disagree on the outcome of a case? Thanks for listening! Feedback welcome at legalissuesinpolicing@gmail.com
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Williams, 2024 ONCA 508 where an officer searched a vehicle after arresting its passenger on an outstanding warrant, finding drugs under his seat — including cocaine and fentanyl. The officer testified the search was a “search incident to arrest”, but no further questions were asked of him and nothing more was said. The accused did not challenge the constitutionality o...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Williams, 2024 ONCA 69 where police — relying on CPIC — arrested a man for breaching a no-contact condition of his undertaking and, following a search of his vehicle, found a loaded handgun. It turned out an exception to the no-contact condition was in play (i.e., there was no breach) but the police failed to check a different and easily accessible database which would...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the BC Court of Appeal decision R. v. Donovan, 2024 BCCA 213, where an officer claimed a search — resulting in the discovery of GHB and methamphetamine — was to inventory an impounded vehicle’s contents. Defence argued the evidence found during the inventory — a search related to concerns extraneous to the criminal law — should not be admissible in a criminal trial. Was the accused right? Or could the evidence ...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike shares his response to the criticism levelled against a police officer who, after arresting the driver of a vehicle for PPT, had the vehicle towed to the police station and searched it without a warrant. Did the distance and delay of the search — from the place and time of arrest — render a search of the vehicle outside the permissible scope of the common law doctrine of search incident to arrest? Can the police move a v...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the BC Court of Appeal decision R. v. Vu, [1998] Docket: CA023384 (BCCA) where police suspected a man of dealing in illegal weapons but thought they did not have enough grounds for a warrant to search his house. Police then placed a phone call to the man telling him they had a search warrant and were on their way to his house. Police watched the man as he exited his house with a garbage bag, put it in his truck...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the case law classic R. v. Poole, 2015 BCCA 464 where police — from inside their cruiser — spoke to a pedestrian standing on the street. After asking some questions and obtaining his name, he was checked on CPIC, which revealed an outstanding warrant for the man's arrest. Police stepped from their car, arrested the man and searched him, finding a loaded, cocked handgun in his pants. At just what point was...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses circumstantial evidence and alternate theories to guilt that may inferentially arise, even without an accused testifying. Just when does an inference cross the line from the speculative to the rational? Does common sense have anything to do with it? Or will any conceivable hypothetical or imaginative conclusion inconsistent with guilt suffice in raising a reasonable doubt? And how can understanding the inferenc...
Provide your feedback here. Send me a Text Message.In this episode, Mike discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision R. v. Dautruche, 2024 ONCA 426, where an officer found cocaine in a vehicle he had searched after arresting its driver who had fled from a traffic stop and crashed. The officer claimed his search of the vehicle was to find evidence of the driver’s possible motive for fleeing. Was a search for this purpose truly incidental to the arrest? Was there some reasonable basis for th...