#OntarioDUIImpairedDrivingcharges

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DUI and Accident - What Happens Next?

DUI  and an accident - what happens next? - When you get into an accident, and the Police believe you have been drinking, the Police will ask you to take a series of breath tests.  If you blow over 80 or refuse to take those tests, you will be charged with a DUI. - What makes that DUI more serious is if you were involved in an accident. - An accident is an aggravating factor and will be considered by the Crown, the lawyer representing the government, as they prosecute your DUI case. - The Crown will consider what happened due to your accident in great detail. - Generally, there are three categories that the Crown will be looking for. _____________________ ✅   Take our DUI Arrest Test _____________________ ✅   Book a free, confidential call with lawyer, Dan Joffe ____________________

DUI with Property Damage

- First, whether there was property damage only, but no one was hurt. - In this case, the Crown will be looking to see how much damage there was. - For example, they will look at the damage to your vehicle, any other vehicles, and any other property damage resulting from the accident. - Generally, the more damage there is will impact how the Crown will handle your case, such as negotiations about potential resolutions.

DUI Causing Bodily Harm

- The second category is whether someone was hurt.  - If someone was hurt and that injury falls under “bodily harm,” that will significantly raise the seriousness of your DUI. - And likely, it will result in your charge being upgraded to a charge called “Impaired Driving Causing Bodily Harm.” - That upgraded charge has more severe penalties, including jail time up to 14 years.

DUI Causing Death

- And third category, and most serious category, is whether someone was killed. - In that case, your DUI charge will be upgraded to a charge called “Impaired Driving Causing Death.” - And in this case, you would face a maximum penalty of life in prison. https://youtu.be/yubyG1HagXc Read the full article

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Will your employer find out if you were charged with a DUI?

Will your employer find out if you were charged with a DUI? - Will your employer find out if you were charged with a DUI? - That’s what I am going to cover in this article. - There are 4 ways that your employer can find out that you were charged with a DUI.   - Let me explain. - Criminal charges are not private matters.  They are public information which means the public, which includes your employer, may find out about your DUI. - And here’s how your employer may find out.

1/ In the media

- The media often will publish news stories about Impaired Driving charges, this is especially true in smaller towns and cities in Ontario. - These stories will often report on what happened, who was charged and in which court the DUI case will be heard.

2/  By word of mouth or on social media.

- It's hard to keep anything secret with social media, so any story, no matter how small, may get picked up online and amplified on social media.

3/  In the Ontario courts

- With rare exceptions, the Ontario courts are open to the public. - If someone tells your employer about your DUI charge, they can confirm that by checking in on your court date.

4/  By the police

- The police can tell your employer about your DUI charge if they want to.  But, it is not common. - Again, criminal charges are not private matters, they are part of the public record. https://youtu.be/njDwBjTAnjw Read the full article

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DUI - Helping a spouse, child or friend

DUI Charge - Helping your spouse, partner, child, friend - If someone you care about has been charged with a DUI, what can you do to help them? - It is very common to have a parent, partner, spouse, or friend call our law firm when someone they care about has been charged with a DUI. - Here are 4 things you need to know about helping a loved one.

1/ DUI charge does not mean there’s an alcohol problem

- Most people that contact our law firm about their DUI charges are not alcoholics.   - And most do not have an alcohol problem. - The majority of DUI cases are people that had a few drinks and thought that they were okay to drive.   - From your perspective, it's important to recognize the person you care about does have a legal challenge ahead of them but does not necessarily have an alcohol problem.

2/ Can you book a call with a DUI law firm on behalf of someone else?

- Yes.  It is common for someone other than the person charged to call our law firm to get help for their Impaired Driving, Over 80 or Refusal DUI charge. - We receive calls from others because they are embarrassed, or English may not be their first language, or if they have a drinking problem, their ability to make decisions may be compromised. - So calling on behalf of your loved one is usually a big help.

3/ Do you need permission to call on behalf of someone else?

- If you are a parent or legal guardian of an under-aged person, you can call on behalf of the person charged. - If you are not a parent or legal guardian of someone under the legal age, you need to get permission from that person charged to discuss information that is not public.  - For example, the fact that someone was charged with a DUI is a matter of public record. - But any information beyond that public fact is confidential, and you would need to get permission from the accused to discuss private information.

4/ If your vehicle is impounded, can you get it released early?

- The short answer is, no. - When someone gets charged with Impaired Driving, the police will immediately order the vehicle to be impounded. - Now, if that vehicle is yours, in other words, it's not owned by the person that was charged, unfortunately there’s nothing you can do to get the vehicle out of the impound early. - The vehicle that is involved in the DUI incident will be impounded, regardless of who owns that vehicle. https://youtu.be/0YSWEpS5ehA Read the full article

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DUI Pardon Ontario - 5 Things You Need to Know

DUI Pardon Ontario - 5 Things You Need to Know - How do you get a DUI Pardon in Ontario? - Here are 5 things you need to know about getting a DUI Pardon in Ontario.

1/ DUI Pardon Ontario same as DUI Pardon in Canada

- DUI Pardon laws are federal. - That means a DUI Pardon in Ontario is the same as a DUI Pardon in Canada. - It does not matter where you live now or where your DUI conviction occurred; the DUI Pardon laws apply the same to all provinces.

2/ When can you apply for a DUI pardon in Ontario

- There are strict DUI Pardon eligibility rules that you need to follow. - Generally, you need to wait a period of time after you complete your sentence in full. - That time period can be 3, 5 or 10 years, depending on when you committed your DUI and how the crown handled your DUI case. - During this time, you need to be a law-abiding citizen.  In other words, you must not have been in any legal trouble. - Finally, you cannot apply before you are eligible, so check eligibility rules because they are strictly enforced.

3/ DUI Pardon in Ontario covers all DUI convictions

- DUI convictions in Ontario and in Canada are covered in the Criminal Code of Canada. - These DUI charges are defined as Impaired Driving, Over 80, and Refusal to Take a Breathalyzer Test. - When you get a DUI Pardon in Ontario, your DUI conviction will be removed from the criminal records database. - That means your background check will come back clean, removing roadblocks to employment, volunteer work and travel.

4/ How long does it take to get a Canadian Pardon

- It takes anywhere from 1 to 2 years to get a DUI Pardon in Ontario. - There are two parts to the timeline. - First is the application preparation. - This includes getting fingerprints, court information for your convictions and local police record checks. - This can take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year. - The second part is how long it takes for the Parole Board of Canada to process your DUI Pardon. - Serious DUI convictions, which means the court handled your DUI as an indictable offence, take up to 1 year to process. - Less serious DUI convictions, known as summary offences, take up to 6 months to process.

5/ How much does a Canadian Pardon cost

- The Parole Board of Canada charges a one-time, $50 fee to apply for a DUI Pardon. - However, there are additional costs that you need to pay. - You need to pay for fingerprinting, which is required to get your criminal record from the RCMP. - You need to pay for a local police record check. - A local police record check is required for every place that you have lived in the past 5 years. - And finally, you may incur some costs to get your court information records. https://youtu.be/Hg4Au1J4C7M Read the full article

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Can you avoid getting a criminal record if you’re guilty of a DUI?

Can you avoid getting a criminal record if you’re guilty of a DUI? - Can you avoid getting a criminal record if you’re guilty of a DUI? - That’s what I'm going to cover in this article. - When you get charged with a DUI, there is a range of possible outcomes. - On one end of the spectrum, there is getting your DUI charge withdrawn or dismissed.  This is the biggest win for your DUI case. - On the other end of the spectrum is a conviction for your Impaired Driving charge. - Along with the penalties, a DUI conviction will result in you getting a criminal record.   - If you have a criminal record, that will pose serious challenges in your life, including potential obstacles with employment and travel. - And this raises the following question. - If the evidence is strong enough to prove a DUI conviction, is there a way to acknowledge guilt but avoid a criminal record? - In criminal law in Canada, there is a path to a guilty outcome with no conviction and no long-term criminal record. - In this context, there is something called an absolute or conditional discharge. - With an absolute or conditional discharge, the court will find you guilty of a criminal charge, but a conviction will not be registered. - And, according to the Criminal Records Act, your guilty outcome would be removed from the criminal records database after a 1 to 3-year period.  And, you would not have a criminal record.  - However, there is a problem with discharges in the context of DUI charges.  - In Canada, a Judge cannot issue any form of absolute or conditional discharge because the Criminal Code prescribes a mandatory minimum punishment for impaired driving offences. - So, If you’re guilty of a DUI, you cannot get an absolute or conditional discharge.   - A DUI conviction will be registered, and you will get a criminal record. - The only way to remove your DUI criminal record would be to get a Pardon, which is now called a Record Suspension, by applying to the Parole Board of Canada. https://youtu.be/mC7ILyk54fI Read the full article

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How do Police catch drunk drivers in Ontario?

How do Police catch drunk drivers in Ontario? This article covers the 6 most common ways how the Police catch drunk drivers in Ontario.

1/ Someone called the police 

- The most common way people get caught driving drunk is when someone calls the Police on them. - For example, they may have seen you consume alcohol or drugs and then get into a vehicle. - Or, they may be driving and see you drive erratically. - Or, a fast food employee serves you in a drive-through and believes you are impaired. - Calls to the police don't just come from people you don't know. - It’s common for family members and friends to call the police if they believe you are drunk. - When the police in Ontario get a call about a potentially impaired driver, these calls are treated with high urgency, and the police usually respond very quickly.

2/ DUI Checkpoints

- In Ontario, it’s common to see DUI checkpoints at various locations when you are driving. - These DUI checkpoints are often referred to as part of the RIDE program. - RIDE stands for Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere.   - RIDE started as a test in 1977 and has expanded across Ontario. - And the reason the RIDE program has been running for decades is that it is successful in catching drunk drivers.

3/ Police waiting outside a bar

- The police often catch drunk drivers by simply waiting in a parking lot near a bar. - The police will park their car and simply wait. - And unfortunately, it's a numbers game. - The more people there are in a bar, the more likely there will be someone that consumes too much alcohol and then gets in their car to drive.

4/ At the scene of an accident

- There are many Impaired Driving charges laid as a result of an accident. - The common scenario is that the police are called to the scene of a traffic accident. - The police observe behaviour which would indicate a possible impaired driving situation. - In these cases, the police will ask the suspect to take a roadside breathalyzer test. - In some cases, the police will skip the roadside test and arrest the driver to conduct a more detailed breath test at the station.

5/ Traffic violation

- Another scenario where we often see people charged with Impaired Driving is when someone is pulled over for a traffic offence. - For example, someone may be speeding, run a red light or get pulled over for using their mobile phone while driving. - And when the police interact with the driver, they realize they are drunk and then place them under arrest.

6/ Reporting on yourself

- Believe it or not, there are cases where people who are impaired will call the police to report themselves. - These are usually younger people who, while operating a vehicle, realize they are too impaired to drive. - They will call the police because they believe “they are doing the right thing.” - Or, they may call an ambulance because they are scared for their health. - While these people may believe “they are doing the right thing,” this action will result in getting charged with a DUI. https://youtu.be/yubyG1HagXc Read the full article

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DUI First Offence - Does good character matter?

DUI First Offence - Does good character matter? - If you’re charged with a DUI but have never been in trouble with the law, does that matter in your DUI case? - Many people charged with a DUI have never been in trouble with the law.   - Most have clean criminal records and clean driving abstracts. - Most are not alcoholics. - In other words, these are people with a good character. - We see many situations where someone had a few drinks and genuinely thought they were okay to drive, but legally they were not.   - Their blood alcohol reading was over 80, and they were charged with Over 80 or Impaired Driving. - How will their good character play into the prosecution of their DUI case? - And the answer is, it depends on the facts. - When the Crown, who is the lawyer representing the Canadian government, reviews your case, they consider two tests. - First, is there enough evidence to secure a conviction? - And second, is it in the interest of justice to move ahead with your DUI case? - If the answer is no to either question, the Crown cannot pursue your DUI charge. - Assuming there is enough evidence to secure a conviction, then would your “good character” mean that it would not be in the interest of justice to pursue the charge against you?   - In other words, would the Crown look at your case and withdraw the charge because of your good character and clean record? - And the answer is, no. - Impaired Driving, Over 80 and Refusal to take a breathalyzer test are serious charges. - The Crown will not withdraw these charges even if you have a perfect, clean background. - But that does not mean that your good character won’t help you. - It will be one data point that the Crown will consider as they prosecute your Impaired Driving, Over 80 or Refusal to Take a Breathalyzer case. - The Crown will look at all the facts of your case in totality, including your good character. - The Crown will consider a number of factors, including: - your blood alcohol readings; - whether there was an accident or not; - your interactions with the police officers that arrested you; and - whether you were alone in your vehicle or whether you had passengers, including kids. - If the facts of your DUI are not aggravating, then your good character would play some factor for the Crown to consider as they prosecute your DUI case. - And those facts, as considered in totality, may result in a better outcome than it would have been if you had a background that was not clean. https://youtu.be/yubyG1HagXc Read the full article

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DUI - How much trouble are you in?

DUI - How much trouble are you in? - How much trouble are you in when you get charged with a DUI? - That’s what I am going to cover in this article. - Any DUI charge is a serious criminal charge. - However, there are levels of seriousness associated with DUI charges. - Specifically, if the crown decides that your DUI will proceed as an indictable offence and not a summary offence, that is a much more serious categorization of your DUI charge. - Let me explain what this means in plain English.

1/ Summary vs Indictable Offence

- First, some important context. - In the Criminal Code of Canada, criminal charges are defined as indictable or summary offences. - In the United States, there is a similar categorization of felonies and misdemeanours. - Indictable offences are more serious than summary offences. - The crimes and penalties associated with indictable offences are more serious than summary offences. - And the legal process you go through is also significantly different.

2/ Hybrid Offences

- Finally, there is a third category of criminal offences known as hybrid offences. - Hybrid offences give the Crown, who is the lawyer representing the Canadian government, the power to decide how they will proceed with a criminal charge. - In other words, with a Hybrid offence, the Crown decides whether to proceed with the criminal charge as an indictable or a summary offence. - That decision is called an “election,” and the Crown needs to make that election on the record in a formal court setting.

3/ DUI Hybrid Offence

- In Canada, DUI charges are Impaired Driving by Alcohol or Drug, Over 80 and Refusal to Take a Breathalyzer test. - These charges are defined in the Criminal Code of Canada as hybrid offences. - So, the Crown will decide how they want to proceed with your DUI charge. - The Crown's decision as to whether to proceed as an indictable offence or a summary offence will be dictated by the facts about what happened. - The more serious the facts, the more likely you are to be facing an indictable DUI offence. - DUIs handled as indictable offences indicate that you are in much more legal jeopardy than if the Crown handled your DUI as a summary offence.

4/ Impact on DUI Pardon in Canada

- Finally, the impact of how the Crown decides to handle your DUI will have serious consequences for your ability to get a DUI Pardon in Canada, which is now called a Record Suspension. - If you are convicted of a DUI, your conviction will be reflected in your criminal record. - Your criminal record will be stored in the CPIC database, which is the criminal records database managed by the RCMP. - That means your DUI conviction will be disclosed on a criminal record or any background check, which will be an obstacle for employment, volunteering or travel. - To remove your DUI conviction, you need to get a DUI Pardon in Canada. - There are strict rules regarding DUI Pardons in Canada and those rules are impacted by whether the Crown handled your DUI as an indictable or summary offence. - If the Crown handled your DUI as an indictable offence, your wait time before you can get a DUI Pardon in Canada is 10 years from the completion of your sentence. - If your DUI was handled as a summary offence, your wait time to get a DUI Pardon in Canada is only 5 years from the completion of your sentence. https://youtu.be/FXVhkaXdFrQ Read the full article

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DUI - How to Challenge Breathalyzer Evidence in Ontario

Wondering how to successfully fight a DUI charge in Ontario? You're not alone. One of the key elements in many DUI cases is the breathalyzer test, also known as the "Over 80" test in Ontario. In this simplified guide, we'll walk you through how to challenge DUI breathalyzer results and the reasons why your DUI case could be dropped.

What is the Over 80 DUI Charge in Ontario?

If you're facing an "Over 80" DUI charge in Ontario, it means you've been tested and found to have more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The prosecutors, commonly known as crown lawyers, will try to use these breathalyzer readings to prove you're guilty of DUI.

How to Challenge the Integrity of DUI Breathalyzer Results

Challenging the validity of your breathalyzer test is a common defence strategy used by DUI lawyers. Here's how it can be done: 1. Was the Observation Period Properly Followed? Before you blow into the breathalyzer, the technician needs to observe you for a certain period. They're making sure you aren't eating, drinking, or belching—any of which could skew the results. If they fail to properly monitor you, the breathalyzer test results could be thrown out, weakening the crown's case against you. 2. Was There a Technician Error? People aren't perfect, and that includes breathalyzer technicians. If the technician made errors while setting up, calibrating, or taking breath samples, those mistakes could invalidate your test results. If this happens, there's a good chance your DUI case could be dismissed. 3. Were Your Rights Violated? In Ontario, you have the right to consult with a lawyer upon arrest, thanks to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If, for instance, the police eavesdrop on your lawyer consultation, your rights are violated. This breach could lead to your case being withdrawn, even if your DUI breathalyzer results were otherwise valid. 4. Were There Legitimate Grounds for Your Arrest? According to the Charter, police must have a valid reason to believe you were driving under the influence. Simply smelling alcohol or seeing red eyes isn't enough. If the police can't prove they had a good reason to arrest you, your breathalyzer results may not be considered valid evidence.

Summary: How to Win Your DUI Case by Challenging the Breathalyzer

Challenging the DUI breathalyzer test in Ontario can be an effective way to fight an "Over 80" charge. Whether the issue lies with the observation period, technician errors, violations of your rights, or the legitimacy of your arrest, any one of these factors could weaken the crown's case against you. Remember, consult a legal expert for personalized advice on how to best handle your DUI case. https://youtu.be/Y3wonQh8taE Read the full article