Ontario Criminal Defence Blog

You could be arrested for drunk driving if you are merely sitting in a parked vehicle.Yes, you can be charged even though you were not driving and maybe had no intention of driving, for example if you were in your vehicle just “sleeping it off.”

Drinking and boating in Ontario triggers the same penalties as does drinking and driving. However, the resulting loss of your driver’s licence affects your driving and boating privileges differently.

In criminal law “breach” is a broad term used to describe a situation where a person was under some kind of court or police order to do or not do something, and then went and did or didn’t do that thing.

Recently, in R. v. Jennings, 2018 ONCA 260, the Ontario Court of Appeal made it more difficult to exclude breath sample evidence in DUI cases where there is a Charter breach. In Jennings, the Court of Appeal overruled the previous decision of R. v. Au-Yeung, 2010 ONSC 2292 – a defence-friendly case frequently cited by counsel defending impaired driving charges.

If you are stopped by the police, there are several reasons why you might think you should refuse a roadside breath test. For example, you might have had nothing to drink and be offended that the officer is making the demand at all. Maybe you only had one or two drinks and do not think you are impaired. On the other hand, perhaps you know you are impaired and do not want to further incriminate yourself.

Recently, in R. v. Jennings, 2018 ONCA 260, the Ontario Court of Appeal made it more difficult to exclude evidence in DUI cases where evidence was obtained in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Once you have reviewed your disclosure and/or hired a lawyer to represent you it is expected that you will meet with the Crown to discuss the charges and see what the Crown is expecting from a plea of guilty.