No privacy breach in Calgary grow-op case: SCOC
The Canadian Press | Posted: November 24, 2010 9:22 PM | Last Updated: November 24, 2010
The Supreme Court of Canada has restored a Calgary man's conviction for running a marijuana grow op in 2004.
Daniel Gomboc's conviction had been overturned by the Alberta Court of Appeal on grounds that police had violated his privacy rights when investigators had the local utility company install a device to monitor his electricity consumption.
The Supreme Court restored the conviction in a 7-2 ruling, but was badly split in its reasoning.
Four justices said the monitoring device wasn't an invasion of privacy, while three said it might be an invasion, except for a quirk of Alberta's utility regulations.
The regulation in question allows a utility to supply consumption data to a police investigation unless the customer specifically asks that the records be kept confidential.
Gomboc made no such request.