Expert witness testimony key in Charter violation ruling

The defence in a B.C. drug trial has made effective use of an expert witness to demonstrate that a police dog’s behaviour did not justify the search of a man’s vehicle, says Ottawa criminal lawyer Céline Dostaler.

A video shows the sniffer dog partially sitting instead of fully sitting, as she was trained to do when finding drugs, says Dostaler, founder of Céline Dostaler Professional Corporation.

“This case worked out very well for the defence,” says Dostaler, who has handled several drug trials. “I would hope to do the exact same thing, which is to look at the video and get an expert to help me interpret it.”