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M.E. was charged with impaired driving and over 80. He had a previous conviction for drinking and driving and was facing a mandatory 30-day jail sentence and a 3-year diving prohibition. M.E. hired Christopher Assié to defend himself against these charges. Counsel noticed that breath samples had been taken outside of the 2-hour limit. As a consequence, the Crown could not rely upon the breath certificates and would have to adduce evidence from a toxicologist. There was also a potential Charter issue regarding counsel of choice. Noticing that the Crown missed the need for a toxicologist, Mr. Assié decided not to file a Charter notice in advance of the trial so that the prosecutor would not look closely at the file and notice that they failed to enlist a toxicologist. On the day of trial, counsel pointed out that the Crown did not have a toxicologist and that the evidence of impairment was equivocal. Mr. Assié was able to convince the Crown to permit M.E. to plead to an offence of careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act. In exchange for installing an interlock device in M.E.’s car and paying a $1,000 fine, the Crown withdrew the criminal charges and M.E. was permitted to drive.
