Law360 Canada ( November 29, 2021, 9:29 AM EST) -- Appeal by the accused from conviction for possession of a single package of fentanyl and heroin for the purpose of trafficking. The trial judge admitted the drugs and the appellant’s statement to police despite having found that his s.10(b) Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) rights were breached when he was questioned on arrest and his s. 8 Charter rights were breached when he was strip searched at the police station. The appellant was arrested while a passenger in a vehicle. One officer noted a small package he believed to be drugs located between the appellant’s legs on the car seat. After the appellant indicated he wished to consult counsel, police asked him about a bulge discovered during a pat-down search. When the appellant indicated it was more stuff, the officer removed the package containing packages of cocaine, methamphetamine and a heroin and fentanyl mixture. During a vehicle search, police located a package containing a 0.29-gram mixture of heroin and fentanyl. The Crown argued this was the same package police saw between the appellant’s legs on the car seat. In the booking area, an officer searched the appellant by lifting up his shirt and pulling the elastic waistband of the appellant’s underpants away from his body and examined it for weapons and drugs. After speaking to counsel, the appellant admitted that he was selling drugs that day and that he used marijuana and cocaine. The judge found the search at the police station fell within the definition of a strip search articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada in Golden. He also concluded that police violated the appellant’s s.10(b) Charter rights when he asked him about the bulge in his jacket pocket after the appellant indicated he wanted to speak to a lawyer. The judge concluded the drugs found on the appellant should be excluded and the drug package found in the car should be admitted. The judge was left with no doubt that the appellant was in possession of the small package of heroin and fentanyl in question. ...