The case against a man accused of illegally stashing away a trove of guns was dismissed Monday after a B.C. Supreme Court Justice found RCMP conducted an unlawful search of his home.
Ryan John Moore, 27, was subsequently found not guilty of eight firearms-related counts as well as one count of possessing brass knuckles and one count each of possessing cocaine and heroin for the purpose of trafficking from a July 16, 2016 incident.
At about 7:30 a.m. on that day, RCMP had been called to a report of a disturbance at a Lorne Crescent home that turned out to involve Moore and Kathleen Rose Slater.
In all, five members arrived at the scene and after an initial search of the home failed to turn up Slater, one of the members went back in and in the process, spotted the barrel of a gun in the closet of the home's basement office.
Moore was arrested and RCMP secured search warrants that led to the seizure of the drugs as well as four handguns - two fully loaded and one with a silencer - along with three long guns with ammunition, various bags of ammunition, two cans of bear spray and the brass knuckles.
Closed circuit cameras, a large amount of cash, four cell phones and drug trafficking paraphernalia were also among the items seized.
Slater, meanwhile, was later found at another home "in less than a perfect state," the court was told when a voire dire - or a trial within a trial to determine if evidence is admissible - on the matter began last week.
Defence lawyer Justin Myers argued the way the RCMP came across the weapons, the manner in which Moore was detained and how he was treated after his arrest violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, in a decision, Justice Joel Groves agreed with him on two of the three assertions.
Moore, who was found not guilty in 2013 on similar charges from a previous matter, was "clearly known to police" and that those who testified during the voire dire were "aware of his somewhat nefarious reputation," Groves said.
"That may explain, at least in part, the attendance of five officers at a domestic disturbance, although a slow Saturday morning may also be the explanation," he said.
Groves found the officers' initial search of the home and surrounding area reasonable. Dispatch had received a call from a neighbour who said loud screaming and crying was heard and then a second call that Slater had not been seen and it was now quiet justified a search for a potential victim, Groves found.
But he raised doubts about the reason one of the officers went back into the home afterwards.
Video evidence shows he did so after briefly gathering with three others in the home's back yard but, according to testimony during the voire dire, could not recall any discussions on whether the basement needed to be searched more thoroughly.
"This does not make a lot of sense to me," Groves said.
Moreover, the officer admitted to looking inside at least one kitchen cupboard and underneath a futon couch even though it had only 3 1/2 inches of clearance. Even in the unfortunate situation that the officer was looking for a dead body, Groves found those steps to be made no sense, noting photos of the cupboards were presented as evidence.
"It defies logic that an adult person could be a sufficient contortionist to enable them to hide or for that matter be placed in any of the kitchen cupboards in the photograph," Groves said.
Likewise, he said it was "odd at best" that she could be found underneath the couch.
"His explanation that he has in the past found people hiding in mattresses is also interesting but not terribly believable," Groves said.
Groves labeled the move a serious breach of the Charter and an instance of police overreach.
He also found Moore had been effectively detained without reason when he was placed in the back of an RCMP vehicle while police were conducting the search.
Charges of breaching a lifetime prohibition against possessing firearms was also stayed. However, all the weapons seized were forfeited to the Crown as were the drugs.
It was the last of a flurry of charges laid against Moore in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Now free, Moore had remained in custody since his arrest on the matter.
