SECTION 9 - LOCKED-UP UNTIL SAFE TO RELEASE
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 10:19AM The accused blew over twice the legal limit. Police placed him in cells and used a widely accepted elimination rate of 15 mgs of alcohol/hour to calculate his release time to coincide with him reaching the legal limit. Before doing so, police did not inquire about the possibility of another person picking him up. The accused even asked to speak to the Sgt. in charge but his request was refused.
The court did not find the detention to be arbitrary. The judge said that no person can predict with any accuracy what would happen if the accused had been released. But it does not follow that detention, of an intoxicated person with readings twice the legal limit, who on cogent evidence has already shown themselves to make poor decisions as demonstrated by their decision to drive while severely intoxicated is arbitrary when he is kept in cells until he reaches the legal limit. R. v. Key, 2011 ONCJ 780