Mark’s Case: Summary of Police Allegations
On Sunday March 1st, 2009, an Ottawa police officer was on patrol in the area of Highway 417 and Castlefrank Road, observing the parking lot at the Centrum Plaza.
At approximately 2:15 am, the officer was in the area of the Centrum Plaza parking lots and observed vehicles leaving the parking lots. The officer was conducting a Moving R.I.D.E. (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) program and observed a blue Jeep Liberty moving very quickly through a parking lot.
The officer stopped the Jeep at about 2:15 am, noting an odour of alcohol that seemed to be emanating from the vehicle. The officer asked the driver how much alcohol he had consumed and the driver said he’d had two beers that evening.
The driver prepared for a breath test by plugging in the testing device and allowing it to warm up. As the officer read out the demand for a roadside breath test at 2:17 am, he observed that the driver’s eyes appeared to be red.
At about 2:20 am, the driver completed the first breath test, which resulted in ‘F’ or fail. The officer then informed the driver of his right to counsel.
At 2:43 AM, the officer arrived at the police detachment with the driver. The officer once again spoke to the driver about speaking to a lawyer. The driver was still unsure about speaking to a lawyer. The officer placed a call to Duty Counsel on the driver’s behalf.
While at the detachment, the officer noted that the driver’s eyes were bloodshot and that there was a smell of alcohol on the driver’s breath.
At 3:43 AM, a qualified intoxilyzer technician at the detachment (who performed the second breath test) informed the officer that the driver had completed two tests with a result of 154 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood and 149 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
At 3:52 am, the officer released the driver by way of a promise to appear, which the driver signed. At approximately 4:05 am, the officer drove the driver to his residence.