The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the acquittal of a Quebec man, who was arrested by police who mistook him for his brother, and later found to be carrying a bag of crack cocaine.

In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court said that the trial judge did not err when she ruled that police had no reasonable grounds to arrest Abede Burke in the first place.

Police had an arrest warrant for Burke’s brother, but mistaking Burke for his brother, arrested him.

Although Burke told an officer they had the wrong person, he was still searched. Police found a bag of crack cocaine in his pocket. He was then charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

But the trial judge acquitted Burke, concluding that the arrest was illegal and the search of Burke unreasonable because the officer did not investigate Burke’s claims of mistaken identity.

The case centred around whether the trial judge had imposed a “more onerous standard” on the police when it comes to reasonable grounds for arrest.

Writing for the Supreme Court, Justice Morris Fish said they were “not persuaded" the judge did. He wrote that her decision explained in detail why she found the evidence of the police officer to be “inconsistent, contradictory and wanting” in relation to the arrest of Burke.

But Justice Thomas Cromwell, writing for the dissent, said the judge did impose a heavier onus than required.

“It required the officer to be certain, or at least persuaded, that the person about to be arrested” is the subject of the warrant, "rather than simply to have reasonable grounds to believe so."