The applicant, Christie Ann Culotta, faced five counts related to impaired and dangerous operation of a vessel causing bodily harm.
Both the Crown and defence brought pre-trial applications.
The Crown sought to admit utterances and a written statement as voluntary.
The defence sought to exclude these statements and evidence derived from seized blood samples and medical records, alleging breaches of Charter rights (ss. 7, 8, 9, 10(a), 10(b)).
The court ruled that the applicant's utterances in the ambulance and her subsequent written statement were voluntary and admissible.
However, the court found that the sealing of additional blood vials by police, with the lab technician's involvement, constituted an unlawful and warrantless seizure in violation of the applicant's s. 8 Charter rights, and this evidence was excluded under s. 24(2).
The court also found that the initial arrest for impaired operation lacked reasonable and probable grounds, but this did not lead to the exclusion of the statements.
The search warrant for medical records was upheld as valid.
