Our client was involved in an accident on Highway 401 as a result of sideswiping another car. A police officer arrived a few minutes later and after speaking to the occupants of the other vehicle, he arrested our client for impaired driving. Our client was taken to a police station to give breath samples and blew over the legal limit. She was charged with impaired driving and over 80. At trial, through effective cross-examination, we successfully discredited the arresting officer’s testimony, showing that it was unreliable. We then successfully argued that the arresting officer did not have the requisite reasonable and probable grounds to arrest our client and that the breath test results should be excluded from the trial. We also argued that the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that our client was impaired. The trial judge accepted our arguments, finding that our client’s Charter right to be free from arbitrary detention and from unreasonable search and seizure were breached and that impairment had not been proven. Both of the charges against our client were dismissed.
