Impaired driving trial. Symptoms of possible impairment noted following a traffic stop. Police removed the accused from his vehicle, conducted a safety related cursory search, and then placed the accused in the police vehicle where he failed a screening test. Issue regarding the lawfulness of the cursory search.
Held: Section 8 violation. Certificate excluded.
Cursory search unlawful. Police lacked reasonable grounds to believe that the accused constituted a threat to police or public safety: Thomas, 2014 ABPC 172. No evidence as to why it would have been “unsafe” for police to administer the screening test without placing the accused in the police vehicle. Police ought to have known that they had no lawful authority to undertake a safety search. Serious Charter violation given that the safety search was conducted without cause, and as a matter of standard police practice.
D. Hatch – Defence Counsel