Gillis' rights violated with warrant for guns found in his home, says lawyer

That evidence included a large number of weapons the court heard were supposed to have been destroyed.

Jeffrey Rae Gillis appeared before Judge Jeff Lantz in provincial court in Charlottetown for the first day of the trial.

Before any evidence was called, the trial entered into a voir dire, which is a hearing within a trial to determine if evidence is admissible.

In this case, defence lawyer T.J. Burke sought to have evidence excluded that the police obtained through a warrant.

Gillis is facing 12 charges after an investigation by Nova Scotia’s Serious

Incident Response Team (SIRT).

Those charges include unlawful possession of prohibited firearms with ammunition, unlawful possession of restricted firearms with ammunition and unlawful possession of prohibited weapons.

In November, Lantz upheld a warrant the police used to seize numerous guns from Gillis’s home.

That warrant was used as a measure to ensure public safety after the police responded to an assault complaint and at the time wasn’t part of a criminal investigation involving weapons.

Gillis was sentenced earlier this month to 30 days in jail for assaulting a teen while off duty.

After the police seized the weapons, a member of SIRT later applied for a general warrant under the Criminal Code of Canada.

The court heard that when the police checked to see if Gillis had any registered weapons in his home they found he didn’t.

Staff Sgt. Kevin Smith was part of the investigation with the SIRT and told the court Gillis had firearms that were showing as having been destroyed.

Burke argued that second warrant violated Gillis’s rights and said the SIRT’s actions usurped the role of the public safety warrant.

The trial resumes Feb. 10 when Lantz will give his decision on the voir dire.

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