There will be a single hearing to resolve a legal dispute over the way police gathered evidence against the notorious Bacon brothers of Abbotsford, a decision that represents a victory for the defence at the Bacon's trial on multiple weapons charges in Surrey.

The lawyers for Jamie and Jarrod Bacon argued police showed a "pattern of disregard" for their clients' rights by searching the Bacon home and an SUV without proper legal authority on April 13, 2007 after someone fired several shots at Jamie Bacon outside the family's then-home in Surrey.

Jamie, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, survived without serious injury.

The brothers were charged after officers discovered a secret compartment in a Chevy Suburban with four handguns and five loaded ammunition magazines.

The Crown prosecutor in the case maintained the SUV and house searches were not directly related so there ought to be two separate hearings.

The written decision released Monday by Surrey Provincial Court Judge Jean Lytwyn opts for a single "blended" hearing about admissibility of evidence known as a voir dire.

The procedural decision made no ruling about the admissibility of any evidence, except to note the Crown has conceded mistakes were made by police and the defence has conceded some searches were valid.

In the case of the SUV search that found the weapons, the Crown admitted there was a "technical" Charter of Rights violation because some of the information about the tracking warrant was not released to the defence.

A technical breach is not enough to automatically throw out evidence but it means the Crown must prove the search was justified during the voir dire which begins next Monday.

The defence is planning to call as many as 14 witnesses, all of them the police officers involved with the searches.

dferguson@surreyleader.com