Joseph A. Neuberger, LL.B., LL.M., C.S. Neuberger & Partners LLP Having defended well over 1000 sexual assault cases, a considerable percentage have involved alleged sexual assaults when both parties have been drinking or under the influence of a drug. The thrust of the prosecution case is that as a result of the complainant’s level of intoxication, she or he lacked the capacity to consent to sex. Often during cross-examination the complainant alleges that “he knew I was drunk, and I couldn’t’ consent”. The legal error with this is that the law is very clear and well established that a…
Recreational cannabis will pose new challenges for law enforcement
The legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada has raised various questions about how law enforcement will deal with a likely increase in impaired driving charges. If we want to know what the future might have in store,, we can look at the State of Colorado which legalized recreational marijuana approximately four years ago. In Colorado, the rate of impaired driving under the influence of cannabis has dramatically increased. In fact, since legalization more than 20% of drivers involved in fatal traffic accidents tested positive for cannabis. [i] When more than 150,000 cannabis users in Colorado were surveyed, almost 70% admitted…
