AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE - A 30 MINUTE PHONE CALL BY SUSPECT TO HIS MOTHER RESULTS IN ACQUITTAL

In a very specific fact situation, the court concluded that the breath tests were not administered as soon as practicable when the investigating officer facilitated a 30 minute call by the suspect to his mother prior to obtaining the breath samples:

At 4:30 am the Intoxilyzer machine was ready but the officer facilitated a telephone call between Mr. Crewson and his mother.  The trial judge found that Mr. Crewson had merely asked that the police call his mother, but that the police went further by actually facilitating the call.  Between 4:40 am and 5:10 am Mr. Crewson spoke to his mother. In essence, the Crown’s position is that there was nothing unreasonable about the police allowing Mr. Crewson to speak to his mother for 30 minutes.  I respectfully disagree.  The onus on the Crown under s. 258(1)(c)(ii) of the Code is a high one.  The Crown is required to prove that the samples were taken “as soon as practicable” beyond a reasonable doubt. R. v. Crewson, 2014 ONSC 4311 The Crown's application for leave to appeal was denied:

We stress that neither the trial judge, nor the Summary Conviction Appeal Court purported to hold that any delay associated with allowing a detainee to contact a parent would run afoul of the “as soon as practicable” requirement.  Instead, the trial judge and Summary Conviction Appeal Court looked at the totality of the circumstances in the context of the “as soon as practicable” requirement in deciding whether the officer acted reasonably. R. v. Crewson, 2015 ONCA 264