Case information
Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.
38616
Her Majesty the Queen v. Justin James
(Ontario) (Criminal) (As of Right)
Docket
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-07-15 | Appeal closed | |
| 2019-11-19 | Transcript received, 54 pages | |
| 2019-11-12 | Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties | |
| 2019-11-12 | Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties | |
| 2019-11-08 |
Judgment on the appeal rendered, CJ Abe Mo Ka Côt Br Row Mar Kas Allowed, no order as to costs |
|
| 2019-11-08 |
Hearing of the appeal, 2019-11-08, CJ Abe Mo Ka Côt Br Row Mar Kas Judgment rendered |
|
| 2019-11-08 | Respondent's condensed book, (Book Form) | Justin James |
| 2019-11-08 | Appellant's condensed book, (Book Form) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-10-31 | Notice of appearance, (Letter Form), Jennifer Epstein, Matthew Asma and Joseph Hanna will appear before the court. Ms Epstein will present oral arguments. | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-10-22 | Notice of appearance, (Letter Form), Scott Hutchison and Kelsey Flanagan will appear before the court. Mr. Hutchison will present oral arguments. | Justin James |
| 2019-10-03 | Appeal perfected for hearing | |
| 2019-09-04 | Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), Extension of Time | Justin James |
| 2019-09-04 | Notice of hearing sent to parties | |
| 2019-08-29 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | Justin James |
| 2019-08-29 | Respondent's book of authorities, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-09-20 | Justin James |
| 2019-08-29 | Respondent's factum, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-09-20 | Justin James |
| 2019-08-29 | Correspondence (sent by the Court) to, all parties. Letter from Registrar (RE: request to change hearing date) | |
| 2019-07-31 | Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), Jasmine Leindecker. RE: Request to change the hearing date. | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-07-31 | Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), Colin Baxter. Request to change the hearing date. | Justin James |
| 2019-07-31 |
Appeal hearing scheduled, 2019-11-08 Judgment rendered |
|
| 2019-07-04 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-07-04 | Certificate of counsel (attesting to record), (Letter Form) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-07-04 | Appellant's record, (Book Form), (2 volumes), Completed on: 2019-07-04 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-07-04 | Appellant's book of authorities, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-07-04 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-07-04 | Appellant's factum, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-07-04 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-05-14 | Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right) | |
| 2019-05-13 | Letter acknowledging receipt of a notice of appeal | |
| 2019-05-10 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-05-10 | Notice of appeal, (Letter Form), Amended notice requried, Completed on: 2019-05-10 | Her Majesty the Queen |
Parties
Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.
Main parties
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Her Majesty the Queen | Appellant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| James, Justin | Respondent | Active |
Counsel
Party: Her Majesty the Queen
Counsel
Matthew Asma
Crown Law Office - Criminal
720 Bay Street, 10th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2K1
Telephone: (416) 326-4600
FAX: (416) 326-4656
Email: jennifer.epstein@ontario.ca
Agent
1300-100 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1J9
Telephone: (613) 369-4795
FAX: (613) 230-8842
Email: kperron@blg.com
Party: James, Justin
Counsel
235 King Street East
1st floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 1J9
Telephone: (416) 368-5000
FAX: (416) 368-6640
Email: shutchison@hhllp.ca
Agent
400 - 411 Roosevelt Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
K2A 3X9
Telephone: (613) 780-2012
FAX: (613) 688-0271
Email: cbaxter@conwaylitigation.ca
Summary
Keywords
Constitutional law - Charter of rights - Search and seizure - Enforcement - Exclusion of evidence - Information to obtain - Reasonable grounds to believe that evidence would be found - Whether the Court of Appeal erred in law by concluding that the respondent’s s. 8 Charter rights were violated by reason of the insufficiency of grounds to support a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, S.C. 1996, c. 19, search warrant - Whether the majority of the Court of Appeal erred in law by excluding the evidence pursuant to s. 24(2) of the Charter - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 8, 24(2).
Summary
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.
The respondent was acquitted of drug and firearms charges on the basis that his s. 8 Charter rights were violated by the issuance of a warrant which was based on an outdated Information to Obtain (“ITO”). The trial judge explained that there could be no reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent was carrying contraband at the time he was searched, when any information about him in the ITO was dated some 23 days earlier. To hold otherwise, the trial judge held, would be to allow authorities to obtain warrants based on a person’s reputation, in this case as a drug dealer, as opposed to credible evidence of probability. He excluded the evidence pursuant to s. 24(2) of the Charter. The Crown appealed unsuccessfully, although Nordheimer J.A., dissenting, would have allowed the appeal, set aside the acquittals and ordered a new trial. In his view, the respondent’s s. 8 rights had not been breached, and even if they had been, the evidence should not be excluded.
Lower court rulings
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
CR-17-4109
Respondent acquitted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and of various firearm offences
Court of Appeal for Ontario
2019 ONCA 288, C65315
Appeal dismissed
Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal
The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.
Downloadable PDFs
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Related links
Factums on appeal
The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.
Downloadable PDFs
Not available