Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Criminal law - Impaired driving causing death - Whether the trial judge applied the correct test to the issue of reasonable and probable grounds - Whether the trial judge erred in convicting the accused of impaired driving causing death based on an erroneous interpretation of impairment of the ability to drive.

Bennett Parker Rhyason conceded that the car he was driving struck and killed a 17-year-old pedestrian who was crossing the street at a marked, lit crosswalk at a controlled intersection. Rhyason had been drinking. The arresting officer detected an odour of alcohol on Rhyason’s breath and demanded a breath sample even though Rhyason showed no balance or slurring problems. The officer testified: “Well, my observations impaired, or excuse me, of alcohol consumption indicia, as well as my belief that the victim was deceased, and based on the fact that he had stated he was the driver….I formed the opinion that Mr. Rhyason had consumed alcohol in such a quantity that impaired his ability to operate a motor vehicle, and subsequently caused the death of – of the victim.” The breath samples showed Rhyason had more than the legal limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

The trial judge found Rhyason guilty of operating a motor vehicle while having more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The trial judge also found that Rhyason’s impairment contributed more than de minimis to cause the accident. The majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Slatter J.A. dissented, would have allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial on the basis that the trial judge did not apply the correct legal test in deciding whether there
were reasonable and probable grounds for the breath sample.