The Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 has acquitted a Quebec man convicted of impaired driving after he was found drunk behind the wheel of his idling truck, waiting for a ride.
In a 6-1 decision, the justices say the trial judge was right to acquit Donald Boudreault, who was convicted in 2009 after the taxi driver he'd summoned for a ride home arrived to find him asleep in the driver's seat.
The justices say the Quebec Court of Appeal erred in setting aside the lower court ruling and convicting the man of having care or control of a vehicle while impaired.
Writing for the majority, Justice Morris Fish said the trial judge was right to conclude there was no realistic risk that the man would drive the vehicle while impaired. He had a plan to get home safely with a taxi service and was waiting with the motor running to stave off the -15 C temperature.
In dissent, Justice Thomas Cromwell argued that risk is not an element of the offence.
The case nails down that risk of danger should be considered in such cases.
The majority found that "care or control" must include "circumstances that create a realistic risk, as opposed to a remote possibility, of danger to persons or property."
"The Crown submits that risk of danger is not an element of 'care or control' under s. 253 (1) of the code. The trial judge found that it is. With respect, I agree," Fish wrote.
Fish said anyone found in that situation would almost invariably be convicted. "It hardly follows, however, that a conviction in these circumstances is, or should be, 'automatic'. A conviction will be neither appropriate nor inevitable absent a realistic risk of danger in the particular circumstances of the case."
He pointed to a key element in his decision: "One of the factors ... in this case is that the accused took care to arrange what some courts have called an 'alternate plan' to ensure his safe transportation home."
