The accused was charged with impaired driving and driving with excess blood alcohol following an incident in Mississauga on November 25, 2011.
The court examined five key issues: whether police had reasonable grounds to make a breath demand, whether the demand was made as soon as practicable, whether breath samples were taken as soon as practicable, whether the first breath test was taken within two hours of the alleged offence, and whether impairment was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court found reasonable grounds existed for the breath demand and that the first breath test was taken within two hours.
However, the court found that the breath samples were not taken as soon as practicable due to unreasonable delays caused by the investigating officer's decision to transfer the investigation to a RIDE officer without promptly calling for one.
Consequently, the breath test results were excluded as inadmissible.
Despite exclusion of the breath evidence, the court found the accused guilty of impaired driving based on the totality of the evidence, including observations by multiple officers and an eyewitness of signs of impairment and erratic driving.
The accused was acquitted of the excess blood alcohol charge.
