SECTION 9 - DENTENTION AFTER AN ASD REFUSAL RESULTS IN A STAY
Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 1:39PM The accused was arrested after an ASD refusal. Since the accused was from another location the officer decided to take him back to the police station to complete the paperwork, and take fingerprints and photographs. His only purpose was to avoid having the accused come back at later date to go through the process. There was no risk that the accused would drive his vehicle because it was being towed. He was not being detained for safety of the public. There were no issues with respect to establishing the accused's identity, or issues about him attending court. Essentially, there were no reasons to take him back to the police station. He could have been released at the roadside. Absent grounds under section 495, a person cannot be arrested and placed in cells solely for the convenience of the accused person or the officer. Although the accused was in custody for less than 2 hours, it was arbitrary and warranted a stay of proceedings. R. v. Boylan, 2011 BCPC 0235