ST. ALBERTA - The case against a St. Albert man facing a dozen drug- and gun-related charges stemming from a 2021 arrest was dismissed after a judge ruled RCMP officers breached his Charter-protected rights three separate times.
Jesse Louie was arrested nearly two years ago after local RCMP officers executed a search warrant in his St. Albert apartment. They allegedly seized roughly $40,000 worth of cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and GHB, as well as a loaded sawed-off shotgun and a loaded Kel-Tec nine-millimetre folding carbine.
However, on June 12, a written ruling issued by Court of King's Bench Justice Bob H. Aloneissi states St. Albert RCMP officers violated Louie's Section 8 Charter rights, which protect against unreasonable search and seizure, by seizing security camera footage from Louie's apartment complex without a warrant, by using “insufficient” and “misleading” evidence to obtain a search warrant, and by recording and disclosing video footage of Louie using the toilet in the detachment holding cell after his arrest.
As a result of the “cumulative effect” the Charter breaches carry, Aloneissi ruled the evidence RCMP allegedly obtained from Louie's apartment was inadmissible in a trial setting, and on June 12, the case against Louie was dismissed.
“I find that admitting the evidence the police obtained at Mr. Louie's residence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute,” Aloneissi ruled.
Aloneissi stated a St. Albert RCMP officer — identified only as Const. Fox — was “careless” and “sloppy” while investigating Louie, although not acting in bad faith.
The ruling says Fox obtained a search warrant for Louie's apartment based on two tips she received from confidential informants, as well as security camera footage from the apartment complex she obtained without a warrant.
The footage showed Louie accidentally drop and return to his pocket what Fox claimed in a signed affidavit was a “baggie” of cocaine, despite it never being recovered or tested.
“Using the language she did, Const. Fox did not make it clear that this was only her belief,” Aloneissi wrote.
The decision says the two tips alleged Louie possessed guns and drugs.
However, Aloneissi noted Fox had testified that informants said Louie was trafficking drugs, not just in possession of drugs of an unknown type and quantity. Fox also claimed one of the tips came from an anonymous source, despite the source actually being known to police.
Regarding Fox's warrant-less seizure of security camera footage of Louie's apartment building, Aloneissi ruled building owners use security cameras “as a shield to safeguard their property, not as a sword to defeat its tenants' privacy.”
“Their use of cameras does not give police cart blanche to seize and then harvest the (security camera footage) by combing through it without prior judicial authorization,” Aloneissi wrote.
“In conclusion, the issuing Justice of the Peace relied upon mischaracterized, misleading evidence and in the case of the (security camera footage) observations, constitutionally impermissible evidence.”
The Gazette asked St. Albert RCMP whether or not Const. Fox is still employed by the detachment and if so, whether she faced any disciplinary measures as a result of the ruling. After one week the RCMP has still not issued a response.
'Cavalier attitude' towards privacy rights
Aloneissi also noted concerns the case raised about privacy rights at the detachment.
After his 2021 arrest, Louie was recorded using the holding cell toilet more than 10 times. Despite the detachment having privacy screens, Aloneissi wrote, RCMP officers didn't inform Louie a screen could be provided to him.
“In this case, there was a single sign that indicated a privacy screen was available to Mr. Louie ...," Aloneissi wrote. "Curiously, there is no such sign on the inside of the cell, where detainees would have an opportunity to read and consider their options.”
Aloneissi wrote the St. Albert RCMP detachment's attitude towards the privacy rights of detainees is careless, and at times, “cavalier.”
“As a further example of this cavalier attitude towards privacy, the recordings in question were disclosed to Crown and Defence without any request being made, in breach of a fundamental component of the RCMP policy,” the ruling reads. “Moreover, the RCMP not only disseminated state recordings of Mr. Louie’s private acts, but also the private acts of three other detainees, one male and two females.”
“In my view, this evidence shows a systemic problem at the St. Albert detachment and a consistently careless attitude towards the privacy rights of detainees.”
The Gazette is awaiting a statement from RCMP and K-Division spokesperson Corp. Troy Savinkoff said a response would come from the national RCMP division in Ottawa.
Louie's lawyer, Walter Raponi, also hasn't responded to the Gazette's interview request.
