Regina v. S.R.T. [Provincial Court of Alberta, Calgary – April 2017]

S.R.T. was seated in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, which was parked on his front lawn; he was causing a disturbance by yelling and playing loud music. Not surprisingly, the neighbours took notice and called the police to report a possible impaired driver. The police arrived on scene and found S.R.T. in the driver’s seat of his vehicle next to a half-empty bottle of vodka. S.R.T. was asked to step out of the vehicle. S.R.T. complied. As he was exiting his vehicle, he lost his footing and fell to the ground at the feet of the investigating officers. The police arrested S.R.T. for impaired driving. At trial, Sean Fagan successfully challenged the testimony of the primary investigating officer, and caused many of the indicia of impairment that the officers observed to be excluded. The judge returned a verdict of not guilty.