SECTION 8 - DOOR KNOCK AT RESIDENCE LEADS TO ACQUITTALS BEING UPHELD
Sunday, August 28, 2016 at 9:05AM Mr. Rogers' appeal reviewed the powers of the police to knock on the door of a residence for the purpose of securing evidence as to whether the occupant, who was recently seen driving a motor vehicle, is impaired. Mr. Rogers was acquitted at trial and those acquittals were upheld by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, primarily based on findings of fact made by the trial judge:
None of these [a long list of case law] authorities, or those mentioned by the Crown, stand for the proposition that when the police are investigating a drinking and driving offence, they may knock on the door of a residence to gather grounds to make a breath demand or otherwise determine whether the driver has been drinking. The critical finding in this appeal, which distinguishes it from others mentioned in these reasons, is that the trial judge found that the police officer knocked on Mr. Rogers’s door “for the purpose of … obtaining evidence against the occupant”. The Crown challenges this finding, but based on the evidence, it appears to be unassailable. R. v. Rogers, 2016 SKCA 105