A murder charge against David Thomas has been dismissed after an Ontario Superior Court ruling found evidence was obtained in violation of his Charter rights.
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A Chatham-Kent man accused of first-degree murder will not stand trial after an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that key police evidence in the case was inadmissible due to violations of David Thomas’s constitutional rights.
Thomas had been charged in connection with the June 2022 death of his 22-year-old daughter, Bayli Sellars, whose body was discovered following a fire at the family’s home in Chatham.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Brian Dubé ruled the dismissal followed Charter breaches involving how police obtained evidence from Thomas’s cellphone in the hours after officers found Sellars’s body.
The court described Thomas as sitting in a police cruiser when he became visibly upset and threw his unlocked phone onto the ground near officers, exclaiming "what the f--k is this?"
The decision said an officer picked up the phone believing Thomas wanted them to view it, and the officer saw an image on the screen before scrolling through additional images and messages.
Justice Dubé found police did not have lawful grounds to seize and search the phone without a warrant or valid consent, and also noted significant inconsistencies in officers’ accounts of who picked up the phone and examined its contents.
The ruling also addressed other Charter-related violations, including concerns involving Thomas’s detention and questioning, with statements excluded from evidence following his arrest in British Columbia on a Canada-wide arrest warrant in May 2024.
Chatham-Kent police said in a statement they respect the independence of the judiciary and that the Crown attorney’s office has chosen to appeal, adding that the appeal will determine whether the evidence should be admissible at trial.
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