Court of Appeal for Ontario

Citation: R. v. Crewson, 2015 ONCA 264 Date: 2015-04-17 Docket: C59450

Judges: Doherty, Cronk and Hourigan JJ.A.

Between:

Her Majesty the Queen Applicant (Appellant)

and

William Crewson Respondent

Counsel: Amanda Rubaszek, for the applicant (appellant) Adam Little, for the respondent

Heard: April 2, 2015

On appeal from the decision of Justice R.F. Goldstein of the Summary Conviction Appeal Court on July 22, 2014.

Appeal Book Endorsement

[1] The legal test for determining whether the breath tests were administered “as soon as practicable” is well established: R. v. Vanderbruggen, 2006 ONCA 9039, [2006] O.J. No. 1138.

[2] This case turned on the application of that well established test to a very specific fact situation. It is far from clear to us that the appeal raises a question of law alone. However, even if it does, the question as framed would not have any significance beyond this case.

[3] We stress that neither the trial judge, nor the Summary Conviction Appeal Court purported to hold that any delay associated with allowing a detainee to contact a parent would run afoul of the “as soon as practicable” requirement. Instead, the trial judge and Summary Conviction Appeal Court looked at the totality of the circumstances in the context of the “as soon as practicable” requirement in deciding whether the officer acted reasonably.

[4] We would not grant leave to appeal.