Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Canadian Charter-Criminal - Search and seizure - Search conducted by forced entry of masked police officers - Warrant not in possession of police officers during entry - Whether the trial judge erred in failing to find the manner of search of the Appellant’s residence was unreasonable - Whether the trial judge erred in finding that the onus relative to the unreasonable manner of search rested with the Appellant - The trial judge making finding even after it was established that the police departed from the common law rule of knock and announce.

Lorraine Cornell rented a single dwelling residence in Calgary. She had a full-time job outside the home. She occupied the dwelling with three young adult children: the Appellant, who was 21 years of age at the time and who also had a full-time job; a daughter who was 17 years of age; and an elder son, Robert, who was mentally challenged and without employment. The police received information from a confidential informant that Henry Nguyen and Tuan Tran were running a “dial-a-dope” cocaine trafficking operation. The Target Enforcement Unit (TEU) of the Calgary Police Service (CPS) conducted surveillance of Nguyen and Tran for several weeks. Nguyen was observed to have attended at the Cornell dwelling on four separate occasions during the month of November 2005.

Acting Sergeant Barrow of the CPS swore an Information to Obtain a Search Warrant (ITO) on November 30, 2005. On November 30, 2005, a judge of the Alberta Provincial Court authorized warrants to search the Cornell dwelling as well as the residence of Tran and a motor vehicle operated by Nguyen. The Cornell dwelling was placed under surveillance from the morning of November 30 until the search warrant was executed a little before six o’clock in the evening. The Tactical Team conducted an unannounced hard entry, sometimes referred to as a dynamic entry, by nine police officers with weapons drawn and wearing balaclavas and body armour. Entry involved battering the front door, physically engaging the handicapped Robert Cornell who was the sole occupant at the time. Robert Cornell was taken down, proned out and cuffed with his hands behind his back. His emotional distress was apparent and a few minutes later, one of the police officers removed his balaclava and spoke to Robert Cornell in an effort to soothe him. A paramedic who accompanied the Tactical Team was summoned to aid Robert Cornell. The police officers of the TEU discovered 99.4 grams of cocaine in the corner of the basement bedroom of Jason Cornell, in a box marked “Jason’s stuff”. Jason Cornell was arrested later that evening at his place of employment.

At trial, after holding a voir dire, the trial judge found that the grounds for the warrant, while weak in certain respects, were sufficient. In a second voir dire, the trial judge found the search was conducted reasonably. Alternatively, he concluded that even if he was wrong, the evidence should not be excluded pursuant to s. 24 of the Charter. The Appellant was convicted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. On appeal, the majority dismissed the appeal. O’Brien J.A. dissented on the basis that the violent entry into a private dwelling, unannounced and without request, by several masked police with weapons drawn, and without the search warrant, was not justified. The Charter violation, constituting a virtual invasion of the private dwelling, was so serious that admission of the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.