REASONABLE GROUNDS AND SECTION 24(2) - PRIOR ENCOUNTER USED TO FORM GROUNDS FOR LATER DEMAND

Officers dealt with Ms. Mellors on a street in New Westminster at 1:00 AM. An officer thought she was far too intoxicated to drive and "just wanted to make sure no one was going to drive home" so he called a cab for her. About 40 - 45 minutes later the same officer saw Ms. Mellors drive by in a car so he stopped her and made a formal breath demand. She was acquitted at trial but on appeal the Court stated that the grounds for the later demand for breath samples were informed by observations made, and his opinion formed, in the first encounter with Ms Mellors. Further, the Court stated that the trial judge ought not to have excluded the evidence of the breath samples as, among other factors, the Grant decision is clear: the taking of breath samples must be regarded as relatively non-intrusive and of low impact on a detainee’s privacy, bodily integrity, and dignity. R. v. Mellors, 2012 BCSC 1357