R v K C & F (2016)
Mr Rice has been retained by one of the three defendants in this homicide case involving charges of second degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence and assault with a weapon. A motor vehicle with five occupants pulled into a strip mall at night and stopped in a secluded parking lot. D was in the backseat with his girlfriend. Another girl was in the front passenger seat. Two masked men armed with handguns and carrying baseball bats got out of a vehicle that stopped behind them. The girl in the front fled when the masked men closed in, opened the driver’s side rear door and began assaulting D with the bats. D was then fatally shot in the chest. The vehicle sped away from the scene to a condominium parking lot where D’s body was dropped on the pavement near a garbage bin shelter. The vehicle then disappeared into the night. The media reported that the shooting was fuelled by a drug debt. A date for a preliminary inquiry has not been set.
R v Y (2005)
The defendant was charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence under s 95 of the Criminal Code and other weapons offences. He was driving a rented sport utility vehicle in a Calgary neighbourhood at night when stopped by the police for a motor vehicle infraction. A police officer saw a shotgun shell on the floor of the driver’s side when he handed the defendant’s operator’s licence back to him. The vehicle was searched without a warrant and a shotgun was found in a Nike bag in the cargo area. The police also found ammunition and two knives in the vehicle. Mr Rice brought a motion to have the shotgun, ammunition and knives excluded from evidence under ss 8 and 24(2) of the Charter of Rights. The trial judge held that the presence of the shotgun shell in plain view gave the police probable cause to apply for a telewarrant which they did not do. The warrantless search of the vehicle therefore breached the defendant’s reasonable expectation of privacy. The trial judge granted the motion, the prosecution’s case collapsed and Mr Rice’s client was acquitted of all charges.