Man arrested with Taser by Regina police found not guilty of all charges

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A man who faced charges related to possessing a Taser during a search by Regina police has been found not guilty on all charges.

Ngandu Tshibangu had the device (considered a prohibited weapon) on him, as alleged, while he was a passenger in a truck stopped by Const. of Regina Police Service (RPS) Trent Walker a few minutes before midnight on February 5.

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He admitted it through his lawyer Jake Chadi at the start of his one-day trial in Regina provincial court on April 26.

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But the case largely hinged on the legality of how police ended up discovering the Taser. The defense argued no, on several fronts.

Judge Marylynne Beaton found that police violated a number of Tshibangu’s constitutional rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Walker stopped the truck after the driver failed to signal a turn. He testified that he had reasonable suspicion that the driver and passenger were involved in drug trafficking.

His stated reasons included: the time of day, the truck closely following another vehicle, the truck being a rental vehicle, the smell of burnt marijuana in the cab, the driver’s apparent uncertainty when faced with simple questions and the information of the police on the driver’s traffic record.

“The motives themselves, other than the drug charge, were innocuous and unremarkable, especially since cannabis is now legal,” Beaton said.

The previous drug charge, along with the other factors, did not “tip the scales” to establish reasonable suspicion under the law, she concluded.

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Since his motives did not meet the criteria for reasonable suspicion, he had no grounds to detain the men, thereby violating Tshibangu’s right against arbitrary detention, Beaton concluded.

Additionally, Walker’s continued questioning of the men after they requested counsel was “not appropriate,” the judge said, noting that it violated Tshibangu’s right to have recourse to a lawyer without delay.

After questioning, police discovered that there was cannabis in a Ziploc bag inside the vehicle and arrested the men. During a search, the Taser was found. The judge said the evidence did not establish that possession of marijuana was illegal and that the “constellation of factors” did not constitute reasonable grounds to believe. Tshibangu had committed a criminal act.

“Therefore, any search incident to arrest was contrary to section 8 of the Charter,” the judge said, referring to the section that protects Canadians against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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Despite these violations of Tshibangu, the judge still had to analyze whether or not the evidence obtained through these violations – in this case the Taser – should be admitted as evidence at trial.

“The question that must be answered is whether a reasonable person, informed of all the relevant circumstances and the values ​​underlying the Charter, would conclude that the admission of the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute,” he said. she declared.

Ultimately, she ruled that the Taser evidence should be excluded and, therefore, there was no longer any evidence to support a conviction.

“So I find Mr. Tshibangu is not guilty of all charges,” she said.

Tshibangu smiled as he left the courtroom.

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