Appeal from conviction of possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking. Police received two confidential informant tips that an Asian male was selling drugs out of a specific vehicle. Police conducted surveillance on the appellant and observed two apparent transactions. Issue of whether the officer’s grounds for arrest were objectively reasonable.
Held: No s 9 violation; appeal dismissed.
“There was no error in the trial judge’s finding that the confidential informant information, combined with the surveillance observations and Constable Mathewson’s extensive experience, was sufficient to ground objective reasonableness for the subjective belief”. Unlike in Quillop, 2017 ABCA 70, the informant tips here were more reliable and there was “some corroboration” of the information.
M. McClelland – Defence Counsel