R. v. Suberu

On June 13th 2003, Constable Roughley responded to a 911 call about two suspects using a stolen credit card at an LCBO store. As the Constable entered the store, the accused, Mr. Suberu, walked past him and said “He did this, not me, so I guess I can go.” Constable Roughley followed Mr. Suberu outside. As Mr. Suberu was getting into his car, Constable Roughley said, “Wait a minute. I need to talk to you before you go anywhere.” Suberu complied. At this point, the Constable had not told Mr. Suberu that he was being detained or told him that he had a right to counsel.

A few minutes later, Constable Roughley received further information by radio that led him to arrest Mr. Suberu for fraud, and seize materials in Mr. Suberu’s van that would later be used as evidence against him.

On appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada from the Ontario Court of Appeal, Mr. Suberu argued for the exclusion of his statements to the police and physical evidence seized at the time of his arrest, on the grounds that they had been obtained in a manner that infringed his right to counsel under section 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Mr. Suberu argued that he was entitled to his right to counsel the moment he was detained, and that he was detained as soon as Constable Roughley told him to “wait” and started asking him questions.

While a majority of the Supreme Court agreed that the police have an obligation to inform a detainee of their right to counsel the moment they’re detained, the majority found that Mr. Suberu was not detained when he was told to “wait a minute.” Instead, the majority held that Suberu was merely momentarily “delayed.” The majority added that while Mr. Suberu’s failure to testify wasn’t fatal to his Charter application, the evidence before them didn’t support his argument that he was detained at the time.

The intervenor, Criminal Lawyers’ Association, was represented by Frank Addario and Colleen Bauman.

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