Undercover police officers purchased several videos from his store, several of which depicted explicit sexual scenes coupled with violence.

Nonetheless, Jorgensen was charged with eight counts of "knowingly" selling obscene material "without lawful justification or excuse" contrary to s. 163(2)(a) of the Criminal Code.

The court acquitted Jorgensen because there was no evidence indicating that he had any knowledge of the content of the videos beyond the fact that they were sex films and may have been exploitive in nature.

He recognized that although mistake of law is no excuse, the strict application of the doctrine could cause injustice: After considering a number of academic sources and the developing Canadian jurisprudence, Lamer C.J.C.

agreed with the acquittal by the majority, but would also have excused Jorgensen based on the officially induced error had the Crown proved its case.