One of the most powerful tools at the disposal of the police is their ability to enter your home, place of business, car, or anywhere else where you have an expectation of privacy. Once they enter, they have the power to search and seize anything they deem to be relevant to their investigation. The police even have the power to seize samples of your blood, fingerprints or DNA to build a case against you.
To be able to deploy such a powerful tool, the police must comply with certain rules developed by Parliament and the courts to protect your privacy interest. In addition, section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects you against unreasonable search and seizure. Before they can search your property, the police must apply to a judge or justice of the peace for a search warrant. A sworn affidavit must be filed with court setting out all of the particulars relevant to the court’s decision to grant a search warrant. If any of the details are missing, incorrect, or misleading, the search warrant and the evidence derived from it could be thrown out. For that reason, the affidavit in support of the search warrant is often subject to a sealing order, so that the defence cannot access it unless an application is brought by the court for an unsealing order.
At The Defence Group, we can help you with all aspects of search warrants, including before, during and after police show up with a warrant. We will bring an application to unseal the warrant, and analyze all of the information to determine the best strategy for challenging the case, the evidence, and even the warrant itself. Often, the Crown’s entire case will rest on the evidence seized by police during a search; therefore, if the warrant is thrown out, or the search is deemed unconstitutional, the case might be won right at the outset of the trial.