In an act of sheer stupidity, and the type of thing that proves that whatever can go wrong will go wrong, a man in Mississauga, Ontario has been charged with impaired driving. But rather than being pulled over at a roadblock or stopped for a traffic violation, this gentleman ended up in the police station taking a breath test of his own accord.
Yes, the Mississauga man drove himself to the police station and asked to take a breathalyzer test. After he provided samples of 120 mg% (one and a half times the legal limit) the man was then charged with impaired driving. Now, I’m sure you’re asking why the heck this foolish individual went down this road. And the answer is simple: he was drinking with his friends in the bar, since the morning, and wanted to prove to them that he was not drunk. So he drove to the police station to take a breath test to prove it.
If that is not proof of intoxication right there, I don’t know what is. After all, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that any degree of impairment, even slight, is enough proof for impaired driving.
Now, as for the admissibility of the breath samples, the law around a consent search is somewhat more problematic for the prosecution. In order for a search to be valid as a consensual search, the opportunity for legal advice must be presented and the person subject to the search must have the ability to withdraw consent at any time. I’m interested to see in this case whether the accused withdrew consent after the first sample. I mean, he obviously lost the bet. Why would he then lose his license?
As a pet owner, I understand the concern that many people have about leaving pets in hot cars. Even a quick ten-minute trip to the liquor store can turn out to be a deadly affair for a furry friend. But not so much when you’re little life pal is reptilian. These cold-blooded creatures can stay in the heat just fine. And as a Florida man recently found out, taking your alligator to the liquor store is probably a bad idea.
Robby Stratton was recently arrested after showing up in a liquor store, self-admittedly “a lot under the influence,” with a five-foot alligator in tow. In his defence, the mouth of the beast was duct-taped shut, so no harm, no foul right?
Other than general mischief, which requires proof of interrupting, obstructing, or interfering in the lawful use of property, it is unclear what offence really was committed here. Is it uttering a threat to wave around a duct-taped alligator in a liquor store? That certainly would be an interesting case. But one thing’s for sure, don’t be Robby Stratton and try to find out.
Some relationships are bad. Some are really bad. And some seem to be really great, but are actually really bad. Take, for example, the relationship that Eric Abramovitz had with his ex-girlfriend. When he applied for a prestigious clarinet scholarship, and was successful in the application, she hacked into his email, deleted the acceptance letter and replaced it with a rejection email from a fake account. That is some next-level crazy ex-girlfriend nonsense.
It wasn’t until years later that Mr. Abramovitz learned of her betrayal. So, naturally, like any good American would do, he sued her. And succeeded. He was awarded $350,000 in damages for the loss of opportunity in his career. She’s lucky, because in Canada we have a specific criminal offence for mischief in relation to data and she could have been criminally charged on top of her civil woes.
