WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Court of Appeal has agreed to hear a controversial drunk-driving case that could set a new precedent for the province’s justice officials.
In 2009, Rhys Mitchell was driving with three friends when they were pulled over for having a broken headlight.
The police officer noticed a smell of alcohol coming from inside the car and had Mitchell take a alcohol screening test, which he failed.
Mitchell fought his arrest on the grounds his Charter rights were violated because the arresting officer didn’t have sufficient grounds to make the roadside demand.
He lost his case at the provincial court level, only to have a Queen’s Bench judge overturn his drunk driving conviction and set him free.
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The appeal court says the case raises a “significant” legal principle which is in need of clarifying.
“This is an area of the law that affects the administration of justice on a daily basis,” Appeal Court Justice Barbara Hamilton wrote in a decision released this week.
“The appeal will be an opportunity for this court to provide at least some guidance to police, counsel and the courts on what constitutes a reasonable suspicion for an ASD (alcohol screening device) demand.”
The arresting officer admitted he couldn’t directly tie the smell of alcohol to Mitchell and conceded it may have been coming from the passengers.
He also took no further steps to quiz the driver about exactly when he’d consumed the two beers he admitted to drinking.
The original trial judge cited concerns with the circumstances of arrest, calling it a “sloppy” and “poorly conducted” police investigation.
However, he allowed the evidence to stand, saying it was not obtained through “egregious conduct by the officer, nor resulted in an affront of bodily integrity or private personal privacy.”
But the higher court disagreed, saying the trial judge made a major mistake in giving the green light to a case that was “inadequate in all the circumstances and infringed upon Mitchell’s rights.”
(Winnipeg Free Press)
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