Canada Case Law

R. v. Holmes

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Court found the accused's verbal confession to Cpl. Downey was involuntary and therefore breached s.7, but rejected defence challenges under s.10(b) and s.8 (warrants were facially valid and execution reasonable) and held s.489.1 did not require a second report after data extraction; balancing under s.24(2) led to admission of the impugned phone/cloud evidence because police conduct was at the low end of seriousness, discoverability reduced impact on Charter interests, and the evidence was critical and reliable.

Source excerpt

• Voluntariness of confession
• Charter s.7 - right to silence
• Charter s.10(b) - right to counsel
• Charter s.8 - unreasonable search and seizure
• S.24(2) exclusionary analysis
• General warrants s.487.01

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R. v. Osborne

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court upheld the trial judge's factual finding that the appellant's confession was voluntary because the officer's comments did not amount to an express or implicit promise sufficient to overbear the appellant's will and the confession was elicited by the strength of the evidence; additionally, there was no abuse of process because the Crown's trial theory was supported by the evidence and the plea facts did not incontrovertibly preclude the Crown's case.

Source excerpt

• Voluntariness of confession
• Inducement/hope of advantage
• Abuse of process
• Guilty plea consistency
• Murder/manslaughter
• Judicial deference to trial findings

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R. v. Chen

Court

Nova Scotia Provincial Court

Judge found on the balance of probabilities that the officer probably told the accused the file could be closed if she provided her side; that statement was a contributing and powerful inducement given her immigration status and custody concerns; Crown failed to prove voluntariness beyond a reasonable doubt; consequently the recorded statement was inadmissible and the subsequent emails were contaminated and therefore inadmissible under the derived confessions rule.

Source excerpt

• Voluntariness of confession
• Derived confessions rule
• Inducement/hope of advantage
• Restorative justice
• Right to counsel

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R. v. Willness

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held both statements voluntary, found a s. 10(b) breach for delayed access to counsel, but admitted the first statement under s. 24(2) and found the second admissible.

• Voluntariness of confession
• Section 10(b) right to counsel
• Section 24(2) exclusion
• Fresh start doctrine
• Confessions rule
• Voluntariness-of-confession

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R. v. Gregson

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

No breach of the duty of loyalty was established: there was no actual conflict of interest and no impairment of counsel's ability to represent the appellant. Counsel's misconduct and fabrications, while unethical and misguided, amounted at best to ineffective assistance which did not prejudice the verdict; appeal dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Duty of loyalty
• Ineffective assistance of counsel
• Conflict of interest
• Voluntariness of confession
• Diminished capacity

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R. v. Mattoon

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On sentencing for break and enter in a dwelling, the court imposed 18 months' jail, one year probation, DNA, restitution, no-contact and other ancillary orders.

• Breaking and entering (dwelling)
• Sentencing principles (denunciation and deterrence)
• Voluntariness of confession
• Dna order
• Probation conditions
• Restitution

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R. v. Clyke

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Applying the operating mind test (Nagotcha, Whittle, Oickle) and having observed the evidence, testimony and recordings, the court was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Clyke had an operating mind during the November 29, 2016 interactions and that his statements were voluntary; the Crown's evidence of probative value (including specific 'hold back' details) outweighed any prejudicial effect, and the Defence's proposed novel burden‑shifting approach was rejected as unnecessary and unsupported by authority.

Source excerpt

• Voluntariness of confession
• Operating mind doctrine
• Admissibility of statements
• Probative value vs prejudicial effect
• False confession jurisprudence
• Voir dire

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R. v. Webber

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The videotaped/audio statement of Renee Allison Webber was admitted because the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that it was voluntary (no oppression, no inducement sufficient to overbear will, no trickery, and accused had an operating mind); on a balance of probabilities the court granted the Crown's application permitting complainant M.S. to testify behind a screen and with a support person under the Criminal Code.

Source excerpt

• Voluntariness of confession
• Confessions rule
• Witness accommodations
• Screen and support person
• Police conduct: oppression/inducement/trickery
• Operating mind

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R. v. Boffa

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court excluded Wyatt Lee Boffa’s police statement, finding the Crown failed to prove voluntariness beyond a reasonable doubt after a prolonged, coercive interrogation.

• Voluntariness of confession
• Right to silence
• Right to counsel (s.10(b))
• Exclusion of evidence (s.24(2))
• Interrogation tactics
• Oppression

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R. v. Camille

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On a voir dire, the court held the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused’s February 7 statements were voluntary, so they were excluded.

• Voluntariness of confession
• Right to silence
• Police interview tactics and inducements
• Oppression and operating mind
• Section 10(b) and section 7 charter issues
• Voluntariness-of-confession

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