OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has granted oral hearings to a B.C. bong shop owner and his employee who expected undercover police officers to respect a posted sign ordering police to stay away.
Timothy Felger and his employee Natasha Healy were charged after a sting operation at the shop in Abbotsford, B.C., in 2009.
Undercover officers bought marijuana on five separate occasions and also saw other customers making similar purchases.
Felger and Healy argued at trial that a posted sign instructing police to stay out without a warrant meant the sting amounted to an unreasonable search.
The trial judge ruled the evidence could not be used and acquitted the pair in 2012, but the B.C. Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial.
The court says in a written decision that the store was a public place, meaning the police were free to investigate marijuana sales there.
Oral hearings can be granted in criminal cases involving an indictable offence if the appeal court set aside an acquittal and ordered a new trial.
