Defense of a DUI Breathalyzer Charge by an Ontario Attorney
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Brief Introduction
Why a Defence Lawyer Needs Disclosure & How They Prepare for Cross-Examination respecting the Intoxilyzer® 8000CDescription
Scientific reliability of the measurement result is the only reason why Canada's per se (we call it "over 80") drinking and driving law, is saved by Charter section1, and therefore constitutional. According to the Supreme Court of Canada, in R. v. St-Onge Lamoureux, that was Parliament's purpose in enacting the presumptions in section 258(1)(c) - to give the results a weight consistent with their scientific value:
"According to the scientific evidence on which Parliament relied, if the instrument functions properly and all the relevant procedures are followed, the results should be reliable. It is therefore logical to provide that the
results can be challenged only by raising problems that can be objectively identified and that relate to possible deficiencies in the instrument itself or in the procedure followed in operating it." (paragraph 38)
This course familiarizes defence lawyers in Ontario, Canada with the most important protocols used by qualified technicians in over 80 mg / 100 mls blood alcohol concentration cases. If your client has been charged with excess alcohol driving or care or control you need to know how breathalyzers work. In preparation for cross-examination of breath techs and government forensic scientists defense attorneys need to know Henry's Law and its application to evidentiary breath testing equipment, particularly the Intoxilyzer® 8000C approved instrument used in Ontario. This course examines the Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) measures documentation kept by provincial and municipal police. The course has video lectures accompanied by Quiz questions that will help teach you how to prepare for Court. Any defence lawyer who is defending an over 80 charge in Ontario should take this course.
Price includes HST.
Requirements
- Requirements
- Before taking this course you should obtain the most recent version of the Recommended Standards of the Alcohol Test Committee of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science. Please visit the CFS web site and download the most recent Operational Procedures, Best Practices, and Equipment Evaluation Standards. or Best Practices of the ATC.
- In Ontario the most important documents for use in cross-examination of qualified technicians are the Intoxilyzer® 8000C Training Aids published by the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto. You can obtain a copy of the current Training Aid by writing directly to the CFS Toxicology Section usually in the context of a disclosure request where you cc the Crown. Earlier versions of the Training Aid will be useful for cross-examining a breath tech who was trained several years ago.
Stephen R. Biss
5 Raiting
Defense of a DUI Breathalyzer Charge by an Ontario Attorney
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Why a Defence Lawyer Needs Disclosure & How They Prepare for Cross-Examination respecting the Intoxilyzer® 8000C According to the Supreme Court of Canada, in R....
