THIS WAS SOMEWHAT MORE THAN TRASH TALK

Supreme Court Upholds Warrant

When you put out the trash, don't expect a constitutional right to
privacy of the contents.

The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled Thursday that police can
sift through garbage if it has been set out at the edge of your
property for municipal collection because "abandoned" goods do not
trigger Charter of Rights protection.

The decision rejected Calgarian Russell Patrick's quest to overturn
his drug conviction on grounds police violated his right against
unreasonable search and seizure when they snatched rubbish, obtaining
enough evidence to get a search warrant for his home and then charged
him with trafficking ecstasy.

The trash contained such things as drug recipes and was contained in
an open receptacle at the back of his property.

"When the garbage is placed at the lot line for collection, I believe
the householder has sufficiently abandoned his interest and control to
eliminate any objectively reasonable privacy interest," wrote Justice
Ian Binnie in the 7-0 ruling.

"The bags were unprotected and within easy reach of anyone walking by
in a public alleyway, including street people, bottle pickers, urban
foragers, nosy neighbours, and mischievous children, not to mention
dogs and assorted wildlife, as well as the garbage
collectors."

A former world-record swimming star, he was sentenced to four years in
prison in 2006.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association said there were significant
privacy rights at stake in the case because garbage contains personal
information such as DNA and financial records.

Association lawyer Jonathan Lisus said the ruling contained a bright
light for privacy rights as it acknowledged in some cases, police
would need a judicial permit for access to garbage, just as they do to
enter dwellings.

"Until the garbage is placed at or within reach of the lot line, the
householder retains an element of control over its disposition and
cannot be said to have unequivocally abandoned it, particularly if it
is placed on a porch or in a garage or within the immediate vicinity
of the dwelling," Binnie wrote.