Impaired Driver Found Not Guilty After Trial

Charge(s):

CC: s.253(1)(a) – Impaired Driving, s.254(2) – Refusing/Failing to Provide a Breath Sample

Allegations:

My client and her husband rented a hotel room for a romantic night away from their kids. After consuming several alcoholic beverages, the couple got into a heated argument, resulting in a bottle of wine getting smashed against a wall and the owner of the hotel calling police, alleging domestic violence. Police found my client parked on the side of the road, in the driver’s seat, on the phone, with the engine running. Based on her indicia of impairment, police asked her to provide a sample of her breath into a roadside screening device. After repeated failed attempts, the officer accused her of deliberately producing the failed results, whereas she claimed that she was genuinely tryng and that the instrument must be defective. Another officer arrived on scene within a few minutes and supplied a different device. After producing similar failed results on this device, she was placed under arrest.

Result:

I tendered pleas of “not guilty,” and conducted a full day trial. After hearing from the three officers involved, I created numerous important discrepencies in their evidence, resulting in a finding of “not guilty” by the trial judge, who preferred the evidence of my client over that of the police officers. All charges against my client were dismissed. No criminal record.