Simon's Megalomaniacal Legal Resources

Charter - s.24(2) - Exclusion of Criminal Evidence (5)

. R. v. Gauthier

In R. v. Gauthier (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal dismisses an appeal from a first degree murder conviction.

Here the court considers Charter s.24(2) ['exclusion of evidence'] after a Charter breach:

(f) Section 24(2)

[54] However, even assuming that there was a reasonable expectation of privacy in the voicemail and that the police acted unlawfully by not obtaining a warrant before seizing it, the appellant can only succeed on the appeal if he can satisfy this court that the evidence should be excluded under s. 24(2) of the Charter.

[55] While I agree that the trial judge’s s. 24(2) decision is owed no deference, because he found no breach of s. 8 in the first place, I do agree with his conclusion that the admission of the voicemail would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

[56] Under the well known Grant test, the appellant must persuade us, that on balance: (1) the seriousness of the breaches; (2) the impact of the breaches; and (3) society’s interest in the adjudication of the case on its merits, requires exclusion because the admission of the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute: R. v. Grant, 2009 SCC 32, [2009] 2 S.C.R. 353, at para. 71.