R. v. Pelucco (D.G.), 2015 BCCA 370
| Judge | Groberman, Goepel and Savage, JJ.A. |
| Court | Court of Appeal (British Columbia) |
| Case Date | August 21, 2015 |
| Jurisdiction | British Columbia |
| Citations | 2015 BCCA 370;(2015), 376 B.C.A.C. 226 (CA) |
R. v. Pelucco (D.G.) (2015), 376 B.C.A.C. 226 (CA);
646 W.A.C. 226
MLB headnote and full text
Temp. Cite: [2015] B.C.A.C. TBEd. AU.031
Regina (appellant) v. David Gabriel Pelucco (respondent)
(CA41331; 2015 BCCA 370)
Indexed As: R. v. Pelucco (D.G.)
British Columbia Court of Appeal
Groberman, Goepel and Savage, JJ.A.
August 21, 2015.
Summary:
The accused texted Guray's cellphone to arrange a sale of a kilogram of cocaine to Guray. Police arrested Guray during the text conversation, seized the cellphone and continued the text conversation with the accused. The police arranged to meet the accused, where they arrested him. A subsequent warrantless search of the accused's vehicle and search of his residence, after obtaining a search warrant, led to three drug-related charges. At trial, the accused conceded that he lacked status to seek to exclude evidence on the basis of the breach of Guray's Charter rights. However, the accused argued that he had an expectation of privacy in the text messages sent to Guray and his own s. 8 Charter right to be secure from an unreasonable search and seizure was infringed when the police read his text messages on Guray's cellphone.
The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a judgment reported [2013] B.C.T.C. Uned. 1909, held that the accused's s. 8 Charter rights were infringed when the police read his text messages on Guray's cellphone. Guray's arrest was unlawful (lack of reasonable and probable grounds). Absent the text messages, the police lacked reasonable and probable grounds to arrest the accused and search his vehicle. In a subsequent judgment ([2013] B.C.T.C. Uned. 2486), the court held that the warrant to search the accused's residence was unlawful. All of the evidence obtained was excluded under s. 24(2) of the Charter and the accused was acquitted on all charges. The Crown appealed, arguing that the accused's s. 8 Charter rights were not infringed where he could have no reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages once they were received by the recipient, as the accused had no control over whether they remained private or not.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The accused had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the text messages sent to Guray's cellphone. The accused's subjective belief that his text messages were private was objectively reasonable. The police, by reading those text messages, violated the accused's s. 8 Charter rights. The trial judge did not err in excluding the evidence under s. 24(2) and acquitting the accused. Goepel, J.A., dissenting, would have dismissed the appeal and remitted the matter for a new trial on the ground that any reasonable expectation of privacy in the text messages ended when they were received by the recipient.
Civil Rights - Topic 1508
Property - General principles - Expectation of privacy - See paragraphs 33 to 72.
Civil Rights - Topic 1641.5
Property - Search and seizure - Personal information (incl. information protected by privacy legislation) - See paragraphs 33 to 72.
Civil Rights - Topic 1646
Property - Search and seizure - Unreasonable search and seizure defined - See paragraphs 33 to 72.
Civil Rights - Topic 8380
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Denial of rights - Remedies - Status or standing - See paragraphs 33 to 72.
Civil Rights - Topic 8583
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Practice - Who may raise Charter issues (incl. standing) - See paragraphs 33 to 72.
Civil Rights - Topic 8368
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Denial of rights - Remedies - Exclusion of evidence - See paragraphs 33 to 72.
Cases Noticed:
R. v. Edwards (C.), [1996] 1 S.C.R. 128; 192 N.R. 81; 88 O.A.C. 321, refd to. [para. 20].
R. v. Siniscalchi (F.) (2010), 291 B.C.A.C. 14; 492 W.A.C. 14; 2010 BCCA 354, refd to. [para. 21].
R. v. TELUS Communications Co. (2013), 442 N.R. 1; 2013 SCC 16, refd to. [para. 33].
R. v. Belcourt (A.J.) et al. (2015), 368 B.C.A.C. 294; 633 W.A.C. 294; 2015 BCCA 126, refd to. [para. 33].
R. v. Cole (R.) (2012), 436 N.R. 102; 297 O.A.C. 1; 2012 SCC 53, refd to. [para. 36].
R. v. Spencer (M.D.) (2014), 458 N.R. 249; 438 Sask.R. 230; 608 W.A.C. 230; 2014 SCC 43, refd to. [paras. 40, 87].
R. v. S.M., [2012] O.T.C. Uned. 2949; 2012 ONSC 2949, refd to. [para. 44].
R. v. Pammett, [2014] O.T.C. Uned. 1213; 2014 ONSC 1213, refd to. [para. 45].
R. v. Noël, 2013 QCC 15544, refd to. [para. 46].
R. v. Sandhu, 2014 BCSC 303, disagreed with [para. 47].
R. v. Thompson, 2013 ONSC 4624, refd to. [para. 49].
R. v. Simpson (A.) et al. (2015), 473 N.R. 94; 2015 SCC 40, refd to. [para. 50].
R. v. Patrick (R.S.) (2009), 387 N.R. 44; 454 A.R. 1; 455 W.A.C. 1; 2009 SCC 17, refd to. [para. 59].
R. v. Lauda (J.M.), [1998] 2 S.C.R. 683; 232 N.R. 1; 115 O.A.C. 293, affing. (1998), 106 O.A.C. 161; 37 O.R.(3d) 513 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 62].
R. v. Collins, [1987] 1 S.C.R. 265; 74 N.R. 276, refd to. [para. 84].
R. v. Tessling (W.) (2004), 326 N.R. 228; 192 O.A.C. 168; 2004 SCC 67, refd to. [para. 87].
R. v. U.P.M. (2010), 399 N.R. 200; 346 Sask.R. 1; 477 W.A.C. 1; 2010 SCC 8, refd to. [para. 87].
R. v. Morelli - see R. v. U.P.M.
Guest v. Leis (2001), 255 F.3d 325 (6th Cir.), refd to. [para. 110].
United States v. Lifshitz (2004), 369 F.3d 137 (2nd Cir.), refd to. [para. 110].
Southam Inc. v. Hunter et al., [1984] 2 S.C.R. 145; 55 N.R. 241; 55 A.R. 291, refd to. [para. 111].
R. v. Finlay and Grellette (1985), 11 O.A.C. 279; 23 C.C.C.(3d) 48 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 111].
Ray v. United States Department of Justice (1981), 658 F.2d 608 (8th Cir.), refd to. [para. 112].
United States v. Hubbard (1979), 493 F.Supp. 209 (D.D.C.), refd to. [para. 112].
United States v. Knoll (1994), 16 F.3d 1313 (2nd Cir.), refd to. [para. 113].
R. v. Plant (R.S.), [1993] 3 S.C.R. 281; 157 N.R. 321; 145 A.R. 104; 55 W.A.C. 104, refd to. [para. 115].
R. v. Fearon (K.) (2014), 465 N.R. 205; 326 O.A.C. 1; 2014 SCC 77, refd to. [para. 121].
R. v. Vu (T.L.) (2013), 451 N.R. 199; 345 B.C.A.C. 155; 589 W.A.C. 155; 2013 SCC 60, refd to. [para. 121].
Counsel:
W.P. Riley, Q.C., for the appellant;
E.P. Lewis and N.L. Cobb, for the respondent.
This appeal was heard on May 4, 2015, at Vancouver, B.C., before Groberman, Goepel and Savage, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal.
On August 21, 2015, the judgment of the Court of Appeal was delivered and the following opinions were filed:
Groberman, J.A. (Savage, J.A., concurring) - see paragraphs 1 to 73;
Goepel, J.A., dissenting - see paragraphs 74 to 136.
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Court Of Appeal Summaries (June 10-14)
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Table of Cases
...534 R v Patrick, 2009 SCC 17............................................................................................228 R v Pelucco, 2015 BCCA 370 .............................................................................. 225, 227 R v Pfaller, [2008] OJ No 4137 (Ct J) ....................
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