The Queen v. B.(C.) 2021

The client crashed into a telephone pole in front of an apartment building in Kelowna.  When people from the area came to the scene to see if he was alright, the client reeked of alcohol and babbled almost incoherently about how he had been in trouble for impaired driving before and he was really going to be in trouble this time.  He was also observed to not be wearing any shoes.  Needless to say, when police arrived, they demanded that he blow into a roadside device and not surprisingly the client blew a “fail” reading.  When he was taken back to the police station he blew samples that were both well over twice the legal limit and accordingly he was charged with impaired driving and driving “over .08”.  Although the client was under the influence of alcohol while at the police station he was not so intoxicated that he would have been unable to take a cab home or call his girlfriend for a ride.  But instead of allowing him to do that the police locked him up in a jail cell for over 8 hours.  Mr. van der Walle was retained and soon afterwards, and based on the fairly obvious Charter breach resulting from the unlawful imprisonment of the client, negotiated settlement with the Crown that resulted in the Crown dropping both criminal charges in exchange for the client pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention under the Motor Vehicle Act.  The client was made to pay a fine but was able to keep his driving privileges.  Not guilty of all criminal charges, no trial necessary.