Law360 Canada ( August 26, 2026, 9:53 AM EDT) -- Appeal by Crown from acquittals of the Respondents on charges of trafficking in cocaine. After the freight handler reported the shipment as suspicious, police looked inside the crate while it was at the freight warehouse, observed what appeared to be a false bottom, seized the crate without a warrant, later obtained warrants, discovered the cocaine, installed tracking devices, and ultimately searched the residence where the Respondents were arrested. The Respondents applied for declarations that the police violated their rights under s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) by conducting an unreasonable search and seizure of the crate and sought exclusion of the cocaine. The judge found that the police violated the Respondents’ s. 8 Charter rights, excluded the cocaine, and entered acquittals. The Crown appealed, arguing that the judge erred in allocating the evidentiary burden regarding how the crate was reopened, erred in finding the police were involved in reopening the crate, erred in concluding the police lacked reasonable grounds to seize the crate, erred in excluding the cocaine, and erred in invalidating the tracking warrants. The Respondents submitted that, if the acquittals were set aside, the matters should be remitted to permit determination of their outstanding applications for a stay of proceedings....