The Crown appealed directed and trial acquittals arising from a fatal collision in which the respondent accelerated through an intersection and struck a left-turning vehicle, causing one death and one serious injury.
On the impaired driving counts, the Court of Appeal held that the trial judge erred in law by concluding that the evidentiary presumption in s. 320.31(2) of the Criminal Code could not apply because the blood samples were seized under a s. 487 warrant rather than under Part VIII.1.
On the dangerous driving counts, the court held that the trial judge misapplied the Roy mens rea analysis by focusing unduly on the other driver’s conduct instead of assessing whether the respondent’s manner of driving created foreseeable and avoidable risks to the public when all relevant evidence was considered.
All four counts were remitted for a new trial.
