When the police identify property believed to be proceeds of crime, the Criminal Code allows them to seize or restrain it. They can take anything from the change in someone’s pocket to all of their assets. While the aim of such seizures is to swiftly deprive criminals of their ill-gotten ...
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On May 8, 2014, RCMP investigators showed up at the residence of Jason Robertson in Kamloops, British Columbia, armed with a search warrant. The police found six stolen rifles including an RCMP Centennial Winchester 30-30 model 94 and a Little Bighorn Centennial Winchester 44-40 model 94. On August 17, 2017, ...
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Canadian constitutional law is replete with tricks and schemes conjured by the police to elicit incriminating statements, gain access to private information and seize physical evidence from unwitting targets. The police may passively surveil our daily activities or stage chance encounters with undercover officers. They can pose as almost anyone ...
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In a post to On The Wire titled Fentanyl Trafficking In Alberta dated March 30, 2019, I discussed the sentence of seven years imprisonment imposed on Patrick Felix by Justice Brian Burrows, in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, at Fort McMurray, for wholesale fentanyl trafficking indexed as R ...
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On January 7, 2020, the Ontario Court of Appeal released two unanimous opinions involving serious violations of the Charter of Rights by the police. In one case, the court reversed convictions for child pornography offences and ordered a new trial. In the other, convictions for drug and firearm offences were ...
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On December 3, 2018, suppression orders were lifted on an Australian case that blew the lid off the justice system in Victoria. It was revealed that a criminal lawyer had acted as an informant providing information to the police about hundreds of suspects including her own clients. The scandal prompted ...
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Betrayal. An unsavoury, but persistent feature of human relations. Friends turn, confidants disclose, trusted allies deceive and forsake. When recruited by the police, betrayers may become informants. Their reports may be akin to schoolyard tattles or engage matters of life and death. Informants can be extraordinarily valuable to the police ...
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On May 20, 2015, Curt Gittens got into an unmarked police vehicle and sold .64 grams of cocaine for $60 to an undercover officer. He bolted when more officers arrived and tossed two small packages during a brief foot chase. The packages contained another 1.06 grams of cocaine. He was ...
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What is the right to be let alone and where does it come from? Canadians expect to go about their daily lives free from state scrutiny. Seeing that citizens are afforded this freedom is one of the goals of Canadian society recognized in the Charter of Rights. The extent to ...
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On September 3, 2018, AppleInsider reported that the Five Eyes intelligence alliance consisting of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand issued a Statement of Principles on Access to Evidence and Encryption at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Australia's Gold Coast. "Privacy law must prevent arbitrary ...
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