Gun, drug charges stayed against Yukon man after RCMP's 'profound failure' to respect Charter rights

Prosecutors have stayed 19 drug-and-gun-related charges against a Yukon man after a judge ruled a large portion of evidence inadmissible in court, citing the "profound failure" of RCMP officers to respect Charter rights.

The failures included searching the man's house without a warrant, keeping him detained in handcuffs for an unreasonable amount of time, and not informing him of his right to a lawyer in a timely fashion.

Crown attorney Noel Sinclair entered the stay of proceedings — essentially, where the Crown opts to end a prosecution — against Jonathan Baglee on Thursday. 

The move came about three months after territorial court Judge Karen Ruddy, following an application from Baglee, ruled that RCMP officers had over-reacted to the situation and any evidence collected during the warrantless search, including firearms, cocaine and verbal statements, could not be used in court. 

Baglee was arrested on July 30, 2019 after RCMP officers assisting with the nation-wide search for two teens wanted for a murder spree in northern B.C. heard the sound of gunshots in the distance. 

According to Ruddy's decision, B.C. RCMP had received a tip that the teens had been seen at a highway rest stop near Jake's Corner, approximately 80 kilometres southeast of Whitehorse. 

Yukon RCMP Const. Joseph Miller and Cpl. Cameron Long were checking the area when they heard three gunshots, followed by another five to six, and decided to investigate. 

The officers followed the sound to Baglee's home, about three kilometres down the Alaska Highway, where they noticed bullet casings on the ground. Baglee's partner and then Baglee came out of the house and told police she'd been firing a .22 calibre rifle, which the officers said they didn't believe based on the casings.

During the interaction, Baglee's partner said she may have also fired a .308-calibre rifle and that there was a shotgun in the house; Baglee also admitted he was under a court order at the time prohibiting him from possessing firearms.

Police arrested and handcuffed Baglee and Long decided to "clear the house," entering Baglee's home without a warrant and doing a "tactical walk-through," according to Ruddy's decision. 

Baglee also admitted to having cocaine in his garage, which the officers again searched without a warrant. 

Police later obtained a search warrant for Baglee's property, but not before locating three firearms. They found six additional firearms, along with firearm accessories and drug paraphernalia, during the warranted search. 

Ruddy, in her decision, found that both Long and Miller allowed the unrelated nation-wide manhunt for the teens unduly influenced their approach to what would be an otherwise mundane situation — the sound of gunshots in rural Yukon near hunting season.

While there are situations during which police officers may be justified in entering a home without a warrant — responding to a 911 call, or where there's evidence of someone in immediate distress, for example — Baglee's case was not one of them, Ruddy said.