R. v. Sadeghi (D.), 2007 SKQB 120

• Judge: Ball, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: April 04, 2007
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2007 SKQB 120;(2007), 297 Sask.R. 96 (QB)

R. v. Sadeghi (D.) (2007), 297 Sask.R. 96 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2007] Sask.R. TBEd. MY.044

Her Majesty the Queen v. David Sadeghi

(Q.B. Crim No. 2003; 2007 SKQB 120)

Indexed As: R. v. Sadeghi (D.)

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Yorkton

Ball, J.

April 4, 2007.

Summary:

The accused was charged with, inter alia, trafficking in marihuana and possession of marihuana for the purposes of trafficking. He applied to exclude evidence from his trial on the basis that the police's warrantless search of his transport truck violated s. 8 of the Charter.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the application and excluded the evidence.

Civil Rights - Topic 1646

Property - Search and seizure - Unreasonable search and seizure defined - A police officer stopped the accused's transport tractor-trailer for a commercial vehicle inspection - The officer inspected the accused's documents and the interior of the trailer - The officer advised the accused that he was going to take a quick look through the cab of the truck - The accused showed signs of heightened anxiety - The officer did not look for evidence of log book violations, etc. in the front of the tractor cab but turned his attention to the bunk area - He saw an object covered by a blanket at the foot of the bunk bed - The officer felt it and believed it might be packaged marihuana - He found two duffle bags, opened the zippers and discovered marihuana - The accused was arrested - The officer continued the search of the bunk and discovered more duffle bags - 176 lbs. of marihuana was found - The accused was charged with, inter alia, drug offences - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench held that the officer's warrantless search of the transport truck violated the accused's s. 8 Charter rights - The search was not incidental to a commercial inspection of the truck - The officer entered the cab for the purpose of conducting a warrantless search for drugs in the sleeper area - There were no reasonable grounds for the warrantless search and seizure and no exigent circumstances which made it impractical to obtain a warrant - The court excluded the evidence - The Charter breach was deliberate and wilful - See paragraphs 34 to 66.

Civil Rights - Topic 1650.3

Property - Search and seizure - Warrantless search and seizure - Exigent circumstances - [See Civil Rights - Topic 1646 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 1651

Property - Search and seizure - Warrantless search and seizure - Motor vehicles - [See Civil Rights - Topic 1646 and first Police - Topic 3109 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 8368

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Denial of rights - Remedies - Exclusion of evidence - [See Civil Rights - Topic 1646 ].

Police - Topic 3063

Powers - Arrest and detention - Without warrant - Reasonable and probable grounds - [See Civil Rights - Topic 1646 ].

Police - Topic 3109

Powers - Investigation - Motor vehicles - The accused was charged with, inter alia, trafficking in marihuana and possession of marihuana for the purposes of trafficking - He applied to exclude evidence from his trial on the basis that the police's warrantless search of his transport truck violated s. 8 of the Charter - The Crown argued that the authority to conduct "any examination and tests that the peace officer considers necessary" under s. 32(1) of the Motor Carrier Act included the authority to search all areas of a motor vehicle that the officer chose to search - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench rejected the argument - The "examination and tests" authorized by s. 32(1) had to be for the purpose of ensuring that cargo was fit for transportation and that it could be safely transported in compliance with the Act and the regulations - A variety of decisions had rejected the proposition that provincial legislation governing commercial vehicles permitted searches for criminal activity without regard to the requirements of the Charter and the criminal law - Because regulatory inspections could be conducted without the same safeguards as searches relating to criminal matters, they were confined to the statutory purposes for which they were being conducted and could not become "fishing expeditions" for offences unrelated to those purposes - See paragraphs 40 to 45.

Police - Topic 3109

Powers - Investigation - Motor vehicles - [See Civil Rights - Topic 1646 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Belnavis (A.) and Lawrence (C.) (1996), 91 O.A.C. 3; 107 C.C.C.(3d) 195 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 38].

Johnson v. Ontario (Minister of Revenue) (1990), 41 O.A.C. 129; 75 O.R.(2d) 558 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 38].

R. v. Bolczak (P.) (2005), 198 Man.R.(2d) 1; 2005 MBQB 56, refd to. [para. 43].

R. v. Power (J.P.), [2005] 1 W.W.R. 556; 236 Sask.R. 40; 2003 SKQB 334, refd to. [para. 43].

Brown et al. v. Durham Regional Police Force (1998), 116 O.A.C. 126; 131 C.C.C.(3d) 1; 167 D.L.R.(4th) 672 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 44].

R. v. I.D.D., [1988] 1 W.W.R. 673; 60 Sask.R. 72; 38 C.C.C.(3d) 289 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 44].

R. v. Nolet (R.) et al. (2006), 283 Sask.R. 159; 2006 SKQB 393, refd to. [para. 44].

R. v. Busat (J.D.) (2006), 274 Sask.R. 1; 2006 SKQB 36, refd to. [para. 45].

R. v. Harris (G.C.) (2005), 260 Sask.R. 156; 2005 SKQB 111, refd to. [para. 54].

R. v. Basta (F.C.) (2004), 244 Sask.R. 224; 2004 SKQB 7, refd to. [para. 64].

Statutes Noticed:

Motor Carrier Act, S.S. 1986, c. M-21.2, sect. 32(1) [para. 39].

Counsel:

David K. Rusnak, for the Crown;

David A. St. Pierre, for the accused.

This application was heard by Ball, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Yorkton, who delivered the following judgment on April 4, 2007.