Client was stopped by police after they got reports that a person driving a truck that matched the description of the truck the client was driving had swerved badly into the oncoming lane and made contact with a vehicle, just narrowly avoiding a full head on collision. Client was arrested and taken back to the police detachment where he blew almost 4 times over the legal limit. As a result of all of this he was charged with impaired driving offences as well as dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident. He faced serious jail time because he had numerous prior impaired driving convictions. At the outset of the litigation Mr. van der Walle requested detailed disclosure documents related to the breathalyzer machine that was used to analyze a sample of the client’s breath. The Crown failed to produce these documents to the defence in a timely manner and as a result Mr. van der Walle filed an application for a judicial stay of proceedings on the basis that the Crown and police had violated the client’s constitutional right to full disclosure of the case against him. Mr. van der Walle now had the leverage he needed and the prosecutor agreed to drop all the criminal charges in exchange for a plea to driving without due care and attention contrary to the Motor Vehicle Act. Client paid a small fine and was able to keep driving for work so he did not lose his job.
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