R. v. Hilton (P.H.), (2001) 196 N.S.R.(2d) 171 (ProvCt)

• Judge: Williams, P.C.J.
• Court: Provincial Court of Nova Scotia (Canada)
• Case Date: July 24, 2001
• Jurisdiction: Nova Scotia
• Citations: (2001), 196 N.S.R.(2d) 171 (ProvCt);2001 NSPC 20

R. v. Hilton (P.H.) (2001), 196 N.S.R.(2d) 171 (ProvCt);

 613 A.P.R. 171

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2001] N.S.R.(2d) TBEd. JL.038

Her Majesty the Queen v. Philip H. Hilton

(Nos. 688584; 688585; 2001 NSPC 20)

Indexed As: R. v. Hilton (P.H.)

Nova Scotia Provincial Court

Williams, P.C.J.

July 24, 2001.

Summary:

An accused was charged with driving while having an excessive blood alcohol level and impaired driving.

The Nova Scotia Provincial Court con­victed the accused of driving while having an excessive blood alcohol level and acquitted him of impaired driving.

Criminal Law - Topic 1362

Motor vehicles - Impaired driving - Evi­dence and proof - A roadside checkpoint resulted in the accused being charged with, inter alia, impaired driving - There was no evidence that the accused had been driving out of the ordinary or had deviated from the norm - The Nova Scotia Provincial Court acquitted the accused of impaired driving - See paragraph 15.

Criminal Law - Topic 1363

Motor vehicles - Impaired driving - Mean­ing of impairment "by alcohol or a drug" -[See Criminal Law - Topic 1362 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 1374

Motor vehicles - Impaired driving - Breathalyzer or blood sample - Evidence and certificate evidence (incl. evidence to the contrary) - Police at a roadside check­point read the accused an SL-2 demand at 11:56 p.m. - At 11:58 p.m. the instrument registered a "fail" - At 11:59 p.m. the police made a breathalyzer demand - At

12:18 a.m. a vehicle arrived and trans­ported the accused to the police station where they arrived at 12:28 a.m. - The police took the first breath sample within two hours of when the accused was first detained - The accused was charged with impaired driving offences - The accused asserted that the breathalyzer tests were not administered "as soon as practicable" on the basis that the 19 minute delay from the breathalyzer demand to when he was trans­ported from the roadside stop was not ex­plained - The Nova Scotia Provincial Court rejected the assertion - The accused had not rebutted the presumption of regu­larity as to the reasonable and lawful utili­zation of time - The wait was neither unrea­sonable nor an inordinate delay - See paragraphs 4 to 6.

Criminal Law - Topic 1374

Motor vehicles - Impaired driving - Breathalyzer or blood sample - Evidence and certificate evidence (incl. evidence to the contrary) - An accused was charged with impaired driving offences - The cer­tificate of a qualified technician was ad­mitted pursuant to s. 258(7) of the Crimi­nal Code - The accused asserted that the Crown could not rely on the certificate where the police officer had not testified that he had com­pared the original docu­ment to the docu­ment which he served on the accused to ensure accuracy and that they were dupli­cates - The Nova Scotia Provincial Court admitted the certificate - The accused had received the notice re­quired by s. 258(7) - The officer's testi­mony that he handed a copy to the accused was prima facie evi­dence that it was an accurate copy - The presumption of ac­curacy had not been challenged - To re­quire the officer to compare preprinted forms was needlessly technical - See para­graphs 7 to 14.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Thorburn (D.A.) (2001), 192 N.S.R.(2d) 290; 599 A.P.R. 290 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 5].

R. v. Laing (C.G.), [1998] 3 W.W.R. 166 Sask.R. 126; 1998 CarswellSask 229 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 7].

R. v. Pederson, [1974] 1 W.W.R. 481; 15 C.C.C.(2d) 323 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 8].

R. v. Morgan (H.G.) (1995), 136 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 205; 423 A.P.R. 205; 104 C.C.C.(3d) 342 (Nfld. C.A.), refd to. [para. 8].

R. v. Breen (S.K.) (2001), 195 N.S.R.(2d) 180; 609 A.P.R. 180 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 9].

R. v. C.R.B., [1999] N.S.J. No. 217 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 10].

R. v. Stellato (T.) (1993), 61 O.A.C. 217; 78 C.C.C.(3d) 380 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 15].

R. v. Andrews (M.A.) (1996), 178 A.R. 182; 110 W.A.C. 182 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 15].

R. v. Hill, [1999] N.S.J. No. 276, refd to. [para. 15].

R. v. Lozano, [1997] N.S.J. No. 581, refd to. [para. 15].

Counsel:

D. MacRury, for the Crown;

D. Weir, for the accused.

This matter was heard by Williams, P.C.J., of the Nova Scotia Provincial Court, who delivered the following judgment orally on July 24, 2001.