SUPREME COURT OF CANADA - "AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE" AND "COUNSEL WITHOUT DELAY" ANALYZED

In this case Mr. Rowson was allowed to call counsel while he was still at the roadside.  He made some statements while he was at the roadside, and later provided breath samples that were over 80.  The trial judge, in R. v. Rowson, 2014 ABQB 79, found that Mr. Rowson's Charter rights had been infringed as he was arbitrarily detained and his right to retain and instruct counsel without delay had been breached.  The judge then excluded certain statements Mr. Rowson made to the police prior to speaking to a lawyer, but declined to exclude evidence of Mr. Rowson's breath sample which was taken as a consequence of a failed screening device test and after Mr. Rowson had spoken to a lawyer. Mr. Rowson was convicted of impaired driving causing bodily harm and dangerous driving causing bodily harm and those convictions were upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in R. v. Rowson, 2015 ABCA 354.  The appeal of that decision was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada on October 17th: R. v. Rowson, 2016 SCC 40.