Canada Case Law

R. v. Walczak

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Convictions entered on counts 1–14; global sentence of seven years' imprisonment imposed at lower end of Crown's range to reflect extreme seriousness, aggregate danger and aggravating features balanced against mitigating factors of dated record, exemplary conduct in custody and rehabilitation prospects; apportionment: counts 1–7 five years concurrent; count 8 three years concurrent; count 9 five years concurrent; count 10 two years consecutive; counts 11–14 two years concurrent as specified; credit of 987 days pretrial custody deducted; ancillary orders include DNA sample, lifetime weapons pr…

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• Possession of firearms
• Possession of prohibited devices
• Possession of explosive substances
• Careless storage of firearms
• Weapons prohibition orders
• Forfeiture

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R. v. Guerrier

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court held that the warrantless search was authorized by s.32(5) of the LLA because the officer had reasonable grounds to believe unlawfully kept alcohol was in the vehicle; a gym bag within reach that can be opened effortlessly is not ‘‘fastened closed’’ for the purposes of s.32(2)(b) and thus does not shield open alcohol from search; the first firearm discovered in the centre console rendered further search lawful and inevitable discovery justified admission of items from the gym bag; the evidence linking the appellant to the firearms (proximity to wallet and presence of personal docume…

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• Vehicle searches under liquor licence act
• Warrantless search justification (s.8 charter)
• Right to counsel (s.10(b) charter)
• Pretextual traffic stops
• Possession of firearms
• Inevitable discovery doctrine

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R. v. Hamouth

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

On review of the sealed unredacted ITO the issuing justice could have properly inferred the son’s residential attachment and issued the warrant; the Crown’s concession to exclude inculpatory statements mitigated s.10(b) impact and, after a Grant balancing that gave deference to the trial judge, the firearms were admissible because the breaches, while serious, had limited impact given lack of causal connection and discoverability; convictions for possession were reasonable; one s.95(1) conviction for the non‑restricted Winchester was set aside and replaced with a s.92(1) conviction; the senten…

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• S.8 charter
• S.10(b) charter
• S.24(2) charter
• Garofoli review
• Grant factors
• Discoverability

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R. v. Edwardsen

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed David Harry Edwardsen’s sentence appeal, upholding an eight-year global sentence for drug and firearms offences.

• Sentence proportionality
• Totality principle
• Consecutive vs concurrent sentences
• Forfeiture
• Possession of firearms
• Trafficking

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R. v. Kapsalis

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court accepted the joint recommendation and imposed a global five-year custodial sentence with specified concurrent and consecutive components and ancillary orders because the recommended disposition is consistent with statutory sentencing objectives, individualized assessment of the offender and the seriousness of combined trafficking and firearm conduct and is not contrary to the principles of justice.

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• Trafficking
• Possession of firearms
• Importation of restricted firearm
• Breach of probation
• Joint sentencing recommendation
• Ancillary orders

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R. v. Zamora

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court granted a Crown application under s. 714.1 to permit a constable to testify by videoconference during COVID-19, subject to safeguards.

• Videoconference testimony
• Section 714.1 criminal code
• Witness credibility
• Right to fair trial
• Identification evidence
• Possession of firearms

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R. v. Myles

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Sentencing decision imposing a 21-month global term for multiple firearm and stolen-property offences, with 255 days of credit, a lifetime firearms prohibition, DNA order, and forfeiture.

• Possession of firearms
• Careless storage of firearms
• Possession while prohibited
• Possession of stolen property
• Totality principle
• Denunciation and deterrence

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R. v. Rhodenzier

Court

Nova Scotia Provincial Court

The court found the firearms offences objectively serious with high moral blameworthiness given possession of multiple firearms (including a prohibited sawed-off shotgun and semi-automatic with expanded-capacity magazine) in breach of an existing firearms prohibition. Balancing deterrence/denunciation with Gladue mitigation, the judge accepted the Crown's revised global recommendation of 30 months imprisonment for the Criminal Code counts plus 10 days for the CDSA count, applied enhanced pre-sentence custody credit of 648 days, resulting in a go-forward sentence of 274 days (~9 months). The j…

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• Sentencing
• Gladue factors
• Firearms prohibition
• Possession of firearms
• Pre-sentence custody credit
• Concurrency and totality

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R. v. Learning

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Sentencing reasons for Ronald Charles Learning on firearms, drug and breach offences. The court imposed a six-year global sentence consecutive to an existing Saskatchewan sentence.

• Possession of firearms
• Possession of firearms while prohibited
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking
• Importation of narcotics
• Breach of recognizance
• Use of trial evidence for aggravating facts

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R. v. Robinson

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court upheld the motion judge: the search warrant execution after 9:00 p.m. without s.488 grounds violated s.8 but the Grant factors supported admission of the evidence because the breach was inadvertent, the timing caused no additional privacy intrusion, and society's interest favored admission; independently, the arrest was supported by reasonable grounds based on the officer's experience, the arsenal found in the storage locker, the appellant's relationship with the renter and his firearms-related history, so the search incident to arrest and the seizure of keys were reasonable and adm…

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• Night-time search warrants (s.488)
• S.8 charter unreasonable search
• S.24(2) exclusion of evidence
• Reasonable grounds to arrest (s.495)
• Possession of firearms

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