Skyway crash: Blood alcohol readings ruled inadmissible in court
Hamilton Spectator
By Ken Peters
An Ontario Court Justice has thrown out a Brampton dump truck driver's high blood alcohol readings taken after his truck crashed into the Skyway Bridge.
Sukhvinder Singh Rai, 36, blew nearly three times over the legal limit more than five hours after the raised bucket of his dump truck crashed into the top of the bridge on July 31, 2014. His breathalyzer at the Burlington OPP detachment shortly after 8 p.m. on that day registered 226 and 220 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood respectively.
But because Burlington OPP officers did not seek breath tests within the three-hour limit set out in the criminal code, Ontario Court Justice Fred Campling said Monday the breath tests and their analysis were "totally illegal" and ruled them inadmissible for Rai's ongoing judge-only trial, which began March 2.
Rai has pleaded not guilty to impaired driving, driving with an illegal blood alcohol level, dangerous driving and mischief endangering life in connection with the incident.
Campling said his ruling means Rai will be acquitted of the charge of driving with an illegal blood alcohol level, and will "most probably" be acquitted of impaired driving. Campling said his ruling will likely have "some impact" on the remaining charges of dangerous driving and mischief endangering life.
The crash caused $1.2 million in damage and closed the bridge for three days.
"Here we have the unusual and, in my view, critical factor that the demands made of you (for breath tests) were a complete violation of the criminal code and totally illegal," Campling told the accused.
"In my mind the factor that dominates is the complete illegality of the police demands which violated the criminal code. Why does that dominate my thinking? If police had followed the law here they never could have obtained any breath sample from you. The police did not follow the law. They made a mistake.
"To me it would be strange, bordering on 'Alice in Wonderland' strange, and unconscionable if the police and the Crown were better off for making a mistake than if they followed the law. I rule the blood alcohol readings inadmissible," Campling told court.
Campling made his Monday ruling without hearing submissions from defence counsel David Locke.
Prosecutor Todd Norman conceded Monday that Burlington OPP made a mistake on the afternoon in question.
"A right thinking person would expect more of the police and they would consider police ultimately failed to abide by the provisions of the criminal code," Norman said.
But he added police were dealing with a "crisis" at the time and the real possibility that the crash could collapse the entire bridge and the hundreds of gridlocked vehicles stuck on the south side of the Toronto-bound lanes after the 3:35 p.m. accident.
"The context of this was a much more dramatic crime scene than normally encountered by police," Norman said, adding he believed excluding the breath readings would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
Campling took pains to praise the conduct of the Burlington OPP and other police officers in the hours after the bridge crash.
"I will say the overall conduct of the OPP that I have heard so far in this trial in dealing with your truck crashing into the Skyway Bridge is amazingly good," he told Rai.
The judge said he believed the OPP officers who have testified, namely Det. Bruce Powell, Constables Andrew Halliday and Hermano Clerigo and Burlington detachment commander Insp. Douglas Fenske, were professional and honest.
Halliday testified he only considered a test at 7:10 p.m. when he detected an odour of alcohol coming from the back of his cruiser where Rai was sitting. Unable to locate a roadside screening device, he made the two-minute drive to the detachment to have Rai complete the test in the detachment parking lot just after 7:30 p.m. Clerigo subsequently administered the breathalyzer tests which resulted in the high readings.
Campling said he believed Halliday and Clerigo made a mistake by not conducting the breath tests within the three-hour window.
"Nobody is perfect. They were dealing with a totally different situation from what they were used to."
Halliday told court he was a "glorified babysitter" as he sat with Rai in his cruiser for hours after the crash.
The trial continues Tuesday.
kpeters@thespec.com
905-526-3388
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6...alcohol-readings-ruled-inadmissible-in-court/
Hamilton Spectator
By Ken Peters
An Ontario Court Justice has thrown out a Brampton dump truck driver's high blood alcohol readings taken after his truck crashed into the Skyway Bridge.
Sukhvinder Singh Rai, 36, blew nearly three times over the legal limit more than five hours after the raised bucket of his dump truck crashed into the top of the bridge on July 31, 2014. His breathalyzer at the Burlington OPP detachment shortly after 8 p.m. on that day registered 226 and 220 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood respectively.
But because Burlington OPP officers did not seek breath tests within the three-hour limit set out in the criminal code, Ontario Court Justice Fred Campling said Monday the breath tests and their analysis were "totally illegal" and ruled them inadmissible for Rai's ongoing judge-only trial, which began March 2.
Rai has pleaded not guilty to impaired driving, driving with an illegal blood alcohol level, dangerous driving and mischief endangering life in connection with the incident.
Campling said his ruling means Rai will be acquitted of the charge of driving with an illegal blood alcohol level, and will "most probably" be acquitted of impaired driving. Campling said his ruling will likely have "some impact" on the remaining charges of dangerous driving and mischief endangering life.
The crash caused $1.2 million in damage and closed the bridge for three days.
"Here we have the unusual and, in my view, critical factor that the demands made of you (for breath tests) were a complete violation of the criminal code and totally illegal," Campling told the accused.
"In my mind the factor that dominates is the complete illegality of the police demands which violated the criminal code. Why does that dominate my thinking? If police had followed the law here they never could have obtained any breath sample from you. The police did not follow the law. They made a mistake.
"To me it would be strange, bordering on 'Alice in Wonderland' strange, and unconscionable if the police and the Crown were better off for making a mistake than if they followed the law. I rule the blood alcohol readings inadmissible," Campling told court.
Campling made his Monday ruling without hearing submissions from defence counsel David Locke.
Prosecutor Todd Norman conceded Monday that Burlington OPP made a mistake on the afternoon in question.
"A right thinking person would expect more of the police and they would consider police ultimately failed to abide by the provisions of the criminal code," Norman said.
But he added police were dealing with a "crisis" at the time and the real possibility that the crash could collapse the entire bridge and the hundreds of gridlocked vehicles stuck on the south side of the Toronto-bound lanes after the 3:35 p.m. accident.
"The context of this was a much more dramatic crime scene than normally encountered by police," Norman said, adding he believed excluding the breath readings would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
Campling took pains to praise the conduct of the Burlington OPP and other police officers in the hours after the bridge crash.
"I will say the overall conduct of the OPP that I have heard so far in this trial in dealing with your truck crashing into the Skyway Bridge is amazingly good," he told Rai.
The judge said he believed the OPP officers who have testified, namely Det. Bruce Powell, Constables Andrew Halliday and Hermano Clerigo and Burlington detachment commander Insp. Douglas Fenske, were professional and honest.
Halliday testified he only considered a test at 7:10 p.m. when he detected an odour of alcohol coming from the back of his cruiser where Rai was sitting. Unable to locate a roadside screening device, he made the two-minute drive to the detachment to have Rai complete the test in the detachment parking lot just after 7:30 p.m. Clerigo subsequently administered the breathalyzer tests which resulted in the high readings.
Campling said he believed Halliday and Clerigo made a mistake by not conducting the breath tests within the three-hour window.
"Nobody is perfect. They were dealing with a totally different situation from what they were used to."
Halliday told court he was a "glorified babysitter" as he sat with Rai in his cruiser for hours after the crash.
The trial continues Tuesday.
kpeters@thespec.com
905-526-3388
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6...alcohol-readings-ruled-inadmissible-in-court/