Welcome to British Columbia’s only weekly DUI law update newsletter. This newsletter contains the most cutting-edge information, the newest case law, and helpful practice tips for DUI defence in BC.
Authored by Kyla Lee, BC’s Impaired Driving Update is released weekly on Thursdays.
What’s inside:
Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 28 Read More »
I have a confession to make. I love a good heist movie. The planning montage, the impossible vault, the crew of specialists who each have one very specific skill, the clean getaway set to a jazzy soundtrack. As a criminal lawyer I probably should not admit that I find any of it charming, but there it is.
What the movies never show you is the scene that comes after the getaway. That is the scene where somebody has to actually sell a priceless painting that the entire planet is now looking for. It does not make the final cut, and that is a shame, because it is the most realistic part of the whole story. The getting is fast and dramatic. The keeping is slow and miserable, and it is usually where the wheels come off.
Every story this week has the same shape. Each one was over in a matter of minutes, sometimes in under a minute. The thieves were quick, organized, and gone before anyone could lay a hand on them. And in almost every case, the speed was the easy part. The hard part, the part that tends to end with someone sitting across a table from a lawyer, is everything that happens next.
…Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 402 Read More »
Kyla Lee joined Paul Henderson on the Something Worth Hearing podcast for a conversation about Alberta separation, constitutional law, Indigenous consultation, and why the legal path for a province leaving Canada is far more complicated than many people realize.
The episode focused on whether Alberta can legally separate from Canada. Kyla explained that while separation is theoretically possible, the practical and constitutional barriers make it extremely unlikely.
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The right to be tried within a reasonable time is a constitutional guarantee under Section 11(b) of the Charter. But what happens when the clock is ticking and a case involves multiple defendants, complex evidence, and scheduling nightmares?
The recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision in R. v. Cade 2026 BCCA 106 provides an analysis of how courts must calculate delay and why the Crown cannot simply point to complexity to justify a breach.
…Understanding Defence Delay in Complex Criminal CasesRead More »
Understanding Defence Delay in Complex Criminal Cases Read More »
Welcome to “Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!”
In this episode, Kyla Lee from Acumen Law Corporation examines a case involving fresh evidence on appeal and how existing evidentiary rules interact with the unique procedures that govern sexual assault trials. Canadian courts have long applied the Palmer test when deciding whether fresh evidence should be admitted on appeal. The test generally requires that the evidence could not have been discovered through reasonable diligence and that it could reasonably have affected the outcome of the case. This case raised the question of whether that traditional approach is sufficient when the fresh evidence relates to material that would have required a screening application before being admitted at trial.
…B.C. Premier David Eby is criticizing the review board’s decision to grant a conditional discharge to Allan Schoenborn, the man found not criminally responsible for killing his three children in 2008, calling it ‘deeply concerning.’ Criminal defence lawyer Kyla Lee says Eby’s comments are ‘inappropriate’ and undermine confidence in the justice system. Lee gives a legal analysis behind the conditional release decision.
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Two recent BC court decisions have clarified important questions about obstruction and the limits of criminal driving offences. One case examines when a driver’s refusal to identify themselves can become criminal obstruction, while the other looks at whether a driver can be convicted of flight from police when officers choose not to pursue.
…Driving Law Episode 455: Obstruction, Sovereign Citizens & Fleeing Traffic StopsRead More »
Driving Law Episode 455: Obstruction, Sovereign Citizens & Fleeing Traffic Stops Read More »
The panel discussion covers several developing political situations in British Columbia, including a potential revival of the BC Liberal Party, the leadership of the BC Conservatives, and policing scandals in Surrey.
“I think there is a division in the party, and uniting people is going to be a challenge. The positions she has been taking on things like SOGI may alienate some fiscal conservatives who do not have a particular issue with those types of things. Balancing that, not going too far to the right while also not going too far left and alienating more right-leaning party members, is a delicate tightrope she will have to walk.”
Soapbox Social: There’s a new BC Conservative leader in town Read More »
Welcome to British Columbia’s only weekly DUI law update newsletter. This newsletter contains the most cutting-edge information, the newest case law, and helpful practice tips for DUI defence in BC.
Authored by Kyla Lee, BC’s Impaired Driving Update is released weekly on Thursdays.
What’s inside:
Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 27 Read More »
People tend to think impaired driving is something that only happens behind the wheel of a car. It is one of the most common misconceptions I run into. The Criminal Code does not use the word car. It uses the word conveyance, and it defines a conveyance as a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft, or railway equipment. That is a very wide net. If it carries you from one place to another, the impaired driving laws are almost certainly paying attention.
I tell clients this all the time and they rarely believe me until they meet someone it happened to. So this week I went looking for the people it happened to. All three of the main stories come from Ontario, all three charges were laid by the OPP, and not one of them involves a car. What they share is a person who climbed onto something conveyance after a few too many and learned that the law does not care how many wheels you have. Or whether you have any wheels at all.
…Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 401 Read More »
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