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R. v. Boersma

[1994] 2 SCR 488 Court SCC Decision date 1994-06-17 Docket 23889 English

PartiesDaniel Boersma and Ronae William Nicols Appellants·Her Majesty The Queen Respondent

Judges Sopinka, John; Gonthier, Charles Doherty; Cory, Peter deCarteret; Iacobucci, Frank; Major, John C.

Decision 4–1 Majority (4) · Iacobucci J. (1)

On appeal from British Columbia

Subjects Constitutional law

Contents

Majority

The judgment of the Court was delivered orally by

Iacobucci J.

Iacobucci J. ‑‑ This appeal comes to us as of right. The appellants were charged with the possession and cultivation of marihuana on what was Crown land. The plants were being cultivated in plain sight and were observed by police officers walking by on a dirt road. In these circumstances, we agree with Lambert J.A. of the British Columbia Court of Appeal that the appellants had no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the area on which marihuana was being cultivated and were thus not entitled to the protection of s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Accordingly the appeal is dismissed.
Judgment accordingly.
Solicitor for the appellants: Peter Jensen, Kamloops.
Solicitor for the respondent: John C. Tait, Ottawa.

Statutes and regulations cited