R. v. Ngo

R. v. Ngo

The court found the police were lawfully investigating a 911 call, detected the odour of growing marihuana upon the door opening and other indicia suggesting a fortified grow operation and a potential 'drug rip' risk, which created urgent circumstances justifying the initial warrantless entry; those lawful observations supported the ITO, the subsequent warrant was valid, there was no s.8 breach and the evidence seized was admissible.

Citation
2009 BCSC 153
Parties
Crown: Regina; Accused: Thong Anh Ngo
Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
13 January 2009
Procedural Posture
Criminal Drug Offences / Voir Dire on Admissibility of Evidence Under Charter S.8 and S.24(2)
Outcome
Application to exclude evidence dismissed; evidence obtained pursuant to the search warrant admitted
Legal Topics
Charter S.8, Charter S.24(2), Search Warrant, Exigent/urgent Circumstances, Exclusion of Evidence, Illegal Search Doctrine
Source Language
English
Constitutional Law Criminal Law Evidence Search and Seizure Charter S.8 Charter S.24(2) Search Warrant Exigent/urgent Circumstances +2 more

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Parties

Regina

Crown

Thong Anh Ngo

Accused

Procedural Posture

Criminal Drug Offences / Voir Dire on Admissibility of Evidence Under Charter S.8 and S.24(2)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the warrantless entry into the residence violated s.8 of the Charter
  2. 2 Whether the observations made during the initial warrantless entry were fruits of an illegal search and thus had to be excluded from the ITO
  3. 3 Whether exigent/urgent circumstances justified the warrantless entry

Ratio Decidendi

The court found the police were lawfully investigating a 911 call, detected the odour of growing marihuana upon the door opening and other indicia suggesting a fortified grow operation and a potential 'drug rip' risk, which created urgent circumstances justifying the initial warrantless entry; those lawful observations supported the ITO, the subsequent warrant was valid, there was no s.8 breach and the evidence seized was admissible.

Court Disposition

Application to exclude evidence dismissed; evidence obtained pursuant to the search warrant admitted

Orders

  • Voir dire dismissed with respect to exclusion application
  • Evidence seized pursuant to the search warrant admitted into trial