Knocking on door of suspected drunk driver violated rights, court rules
A police officer who knocked on the door of a suspected drunk driver six years ago violated the man's charter rights, so he must be found "not guilty," Saskatchewan's highest court says.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal recently ruled on the case of John Scott Rogers, who was acquitted of impaired driving at provincial court but was later ordered to stand trial again.
According to the Crown's evidence, police got involved after a witness saw a man back his car into another parked vehicle, causing minor damage. Nobody was hurt.
The suspect, who turned out to be Rogers, lived in an apartment. An officer went into the building, knocked on his door and spoke to someone with a slurred voice.
After Rogers came out of his apartment, police had him come down to the police station for a breath test, where he blew over the legal blood-alcohol limit and was charged.
A provincial court judge initially said knocking on someone's door while looking for evidence can be considered an unconstitutional search, violating charter-protected privacy rights, so the evidence had to be thrown out.
Later, a Court of Queen's Bench judge said that decision was wrong and ordered a new trial.
Now, in a third go at the case, the appeal court said the original judge had it right the first time and Rogers is acquitted of all charges. That means there won't be a new trial.
"All of the evidence that the police gathered to support the demands [for a breath sample] flowed from the officer's decision to knock on the door," Justice Georgina Jackson saidin a 27-page written decision that was concurred with by justices Jacelyn Ryan-Froslie and Peter Whitmore.
The appeal court decision was released on Aug.19 and published this week to the Canlii legal database.
