TORONTO, April 9 (UPI) -- Trash put out for collection can be searched by police because there is no real expectation of privacy, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday.
The high court upheld the drug conviction of Russell Patrick, once a record-holding swimmer, The Toronto Globe and Mail reported. Patrick was convicted of manufacturing the methamphetamine MDA after Calgary police seized and searched his trash in 2003.
Patrick's trash, put out for collection, was on his property but on the other side of a fence.
"When Patrick's conduct is assessed objectively, he abandoned his privacy interest when he placed his garbage for collection at the rear of his property where it was accessible to any passing member of the public," Justice Ian Binnie said in the court's opinion.
Michael Bates, a lawyer for the defense, argued before the court that Canadians do have some reasonable expectation that trash left for collection is private.
