Appeal from conviction for possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Sniffer dog search after a vehicle stop. Officer’s grounds for suspicion were: (1) appellant’s “illogical” brief exit from the highway, (2) cooler and food in the vehicle, (3) result of police information checks showing appellant was “associated” with marijuana grow-op files; (4) diaper boxes and car seat that were “suspicious” in light of the officer’s experience, and (5) nervousness.
Held: s 8 and 9 violation; adjourned for 24(2) submissions.
“The dictum in Chehil, [2013 SCC 49] at para 31, that innocuous factors that “go both ways” cannot support reasonable suspicion on their own but may when combined with other factors, should not be understood as endorsing a kind of alchemy whereby a group of severally innocuous factors somehow become grounds for reasonable suspicion when considered together.” Factors here were neutral except for the suspicious boxes. Subjective belief not objectively justified.
A. Attia – Defence Counsel