Hypnosis defence (an Alberta man is acquitted of impaired driving on the grounds that he was under a trance).

• Author: Mitchell, Teresa

An Alberta man recently used the defence that he was under the influence of hypnosis to defend himself against drunk driving charges. He had attended a bar earlier where a hypnotist was entertaining and had volunteered to be hypnotised. Witnesses testified that he appeared to be in a trance and performed various acts at the hypnotist's request. The hypnotist then dealt with all the volunteers collectively to bring them out of their trance. The accused was later stopped by police, who noted that while he was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred, they did not notice a smell of alcohol. He defended himself on the grounds of...