Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Her Majesty the Queen
and
[REDACTED]
Counsel: Angela Jeffrey, for Crown
[REDACTED], for Accused
Released: [REDACTED]
Judge: [REDACTED].
Ruling
The accused was a 19-year-old male with no criminal record who was charged with 42 offences arising from five separate home invasions. The accused applied to have three of his statements to the police excluded on the basis that they were involuntary and that his right to counsel pursuant to s. 10(a), (b) of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was infringed. The Court ruled the statements were inadmissible on the basis that the Crown failed to discharge their heavy onus to prove voluntariness of the first two statements beyond a reasonable doubt by the failure of the police to follow proper recording procedures. The third statement was also ruled inadmissible because of its strong causal connection to the first two statements, thereby also requiring its exclusion.
