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October 14, 2005

Refusal to honour accused's request for legal counsel leads to acquittal on drug and weapons charges in HMTQ v. Parmar

Recently, in a case involving charges for possession of prohibited weapons, the B.C. Supreme Court found that a failure by a police officer to honour an accused's request for counsel is a breach of the right to counsel protected by s. 10(b) of the Charter. In this case, that breach along with breaches of ss. 8 and 9 Charter rights led to the exclusion of evidence critical to the Crown's case against the accused resulting in his acquittal. Click here to read the Court's Reasons for Judgement in HMTQ v. Parmar 2005 BCSC 1247.

Posted by BCCLB at October 14, 2005 04:00 PM