SECTION 10(B) - RIGHT TO COUNSEL IN A HOSPITAL SETTING - SUPREME COURT OF CANADA - R. V. TAYLOR
Saturday, September 13, 2014 at 9:54AM Mr. Taylor was convicted at trial of three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm. His appeal to the Alberta Court of Appeal was allowed and acquittals were entered (see October 19, 2013 blog entry). The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld those acquittals:
An individual who enters a hospital to receive medical treatment is not in a Charter-free zone. Where the individual has requested access to counsel and is in custody at the hospital, the police have an obligation under s. 10(b) to take steps to ascertain whether private access to a phone is in fact available, given the circumstances. Since most hospitals have phones, it is not a question simply of whether the individual is in the emergency room, it is whether the Crown has demonstrated that the circumstances are such that a private phone conversation is not reasonably feasible. R. v. Taylor, 2014 SCC 50