The Crown appealed a summary conviction acquittal for care or control of a motor vehicle while having a blood alcohol concentration exceeding the legal limit.
The accused had been found seated in the driver’s seat of a running vehicle in a pub parking lot with breath readings of 110 and 100 mg/100 ml.
The trial judge concluded there was no realistic risk of danger and that the accused had rebutted the statutory presumption of care or control based on an alleged alternate plan to obtain a ride.
The appeal court held that the trial judge misapplied the test from R. v. Boudreault by focusing on visible impairment rather than the legal significance of an over‑80 reading and by treating a vague or unimplemented plan as sufficient to rebut the presumption.
The acquittal was set aside and a conviction substituted.
