Wasyliw Wiebe is dedicated to protecting your rights as a driver. If you are charged with impaired driving in Canada or other speeding tickets, we will stand by your stand in letting you understand your rights and the options that you can choose.
As reliable impaired driving lawyers, we take each case seriously and do whatever it takes to protect your rights. Our legal team is ready and prepared to help you achieve the best possible outcomes for your case.
Impaired Driving litigation is nuanced and complicated, as the law in this area is ever evolving. It's important to secure qualified and experienced representation.
It is a criminal offence to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration that is equal to or exceeds 80 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood, even if you are not showing any signs of impairment. The Criminal Code allows the Crown Prosecutor to enter a Certificate of Analysis as proof of the blood alcohol content, and contains several presumptions that allow the Crown to prove its case more expeditiously.
Defending Over 80 cases requires detailed knowledge of the Criminal Code provisions that allow the Crown to rely on presumptions. If the prerequisites for the use of these presumptions have not been satisfied, the Certificate of Analysis may be inadmissible. In addition, if the Accused can demonstrate a serious Charter breach, the Certificate of Analysis may be excluded.
Impaired Driving and Over 80 charges are typically charged together. The lawyers at Wasyliw Wiebe are competent and experienced in successfully defending these charges.
You don’t have to actually be driving a motor vehicle in order to be charges with impaired driving, or Over 80. Having care and control of the vehicle is enough for a conviction. This means that you can be convicted if the vehicle is not moving, but you are in the driver’s seat, the passenger’s seat, or even standing near the vehicle.
Whether the Accused is in care and control is determined on the facts of each individual case, on the basis of the intention of the Accused, as well as the danger of the vehicle being inadvertently set in motion.
Defending Care and Control cases requires extensive knowledge of the case law in this area, as well as meticulous trial preparation in order to ensure that the relevant information is clear to the presiding Judge. The lawyers at Wasyliw Wiebe have extensive experience in successfully defending this type of charge.
A Peace Officer is entitled to ask you to provide a breath sample into an Approved Screening Device without any suspicion that you have consumed any alcohol. In this scenario, where a routine safety check is being completed, a driver is not entitled to contact counsel prior to providing the sample. Refusing to provide a breath sample, or failing to provide an adequate sample without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence that carries the same disruptive penalties as a conviction for Impaired Driving.
The Approved Screening Devices give a result of "Pass", "Fail" or "Warn". In the event of a "Fail" reading, the officer has the discretion to either arrest the driver and make a further demand that the driver provide a breath sample into an approved instrument, which gives a precise reading of the driver’s blood alcohol content, potentially giving rise to an Over 80 charge, or to give the driver a citation under the Highway Traffic Act.
Again, refusing to provide a breath sample upon the reasonable demand of a Peace Officer is a Criminal Code offence, with significant consequences attaching upon conviction.
