R. v. C.S. [Provincial Court of Alberta, Calgary, May 2019]

C.S. was pulled over for running a red light on 17^th avenue SW at approximately 2:00am. The police detected an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. C.S. maintained that she had not drank any alcohol and that the odor of alcohol was coming from her three intoxicated passengers, for whom she was the designated driver. A demand for a roadside sample of her breath was made and for whatever reason, C.S. was unable to provide a suitable sample. She was charged with failing/refusing to provide a breath sample and put in the back of the police car. During this time the passengers in her vehicle got out and became belligerent with police. A fight later broke out between some unrelated males across the street which police attended to. Over the course of more than an hour S.C. was detained in the back of the police vehicle without being told why, and without being advised of her right to counsel and right to silence. Ms. Fagan filed a Charter notice arguing that her client’s rights had been violated as a consequence of the foregoing.

BOTTOM LINE: The charge against C.S. was completely withdrawn.