As a police officer gassed up his car in the town of Lavington, a woman approached him and told him that she suspected the client was drinking and driving nearby currently and that she she would not be able to live with herself if someone was hurt and she had said nothing. The officer left the gas station and soon later found the vehicle the woman had told him the client drives parked at the entrance of a forest service road. The officer pulled in behind the vehicle and approached the window. He observed a Pepsi bottle filled with pink liquid he suspected contained alcohol in the client’s lap on the driver seat. The officer demanded that the client provide a sample of his breath into a roadside breathalyzer. The client blew a “fail” reading and as a result he was taken to the police station and he provided samples of his breath almost 3 times the legal limit. He was charged with having the care and control of a vehicle “over .08”. At trial Mr. can der Walle argued that the officer did not have reasonable grounds to make the demand as the woman’s complaint was vague and un-compelling and the bottle of pink liquid could have been anything. The judge agreed and found that the client’s constitutional rights had been violated by police. The Crown “packed it in” at that point and agreed that the charge ought to be dismissed. Not guilty. Client did not testify.
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