R. v. G.S. [Provincial Court, Cochrane, July 2017]

The truck driven by G.S. was seen swerving on the highway outside of Cochrane. The police stopped the vehicle and G.S. admitted to drinking. He was asked to provide a roadside sample of his breath. The in-car video system captured G.S. slurring his words, swearing and making several unsuccessful attempts to provide a breath sample. G.S. was charged with impaired driving, refusing to provide a breath sample and two traffic tickets for having an uninsured vehicle and no registration. Ms. Fagan noticed defects in the charging document and was ultimately successful in having the two criminal charges and the no registration ticket withdrawn in exchange for a guilty plea to the traffic ticket for having no vehicle insurance.

BOTTOM LINE: G.S. received the mandatory minimum fine for the traffic ticket and all criminal charges were withdrawn. G.S.’s driver’s license was reinstated immediately.