Last friday i got charged with operating while impaired 320.14(1)a and ipaired over 80 320.14(1)b on 22nd april 2024. I have PR but im scared i might get deported. My bac reading were 170 and 180. My first court appearance is on april 5th.
what should i do to avoid conviction?
...What are my chances of getting a conditional charge you think?
@scylla is right. Your BAC is high enough to attract the ire of most judges.
I take it your reference to "a conditional charge" is a reference to a conditional discharge. Given your high BAC readings, I would regard that as an unlikely disposition. Even a conditional sentence might be a stretch.
The only thing I see on your side is that, at least in some parts of Canada, all drinking/driving offences, apart from those causing death or bodily harm, are no longer really regarded as criminal, although they remain in the Code. They are seen more as administrative offences and dealt with under provincial legislation. Here, in BC, most impaired drivers never have to submit to breathalyzer tests. Instead, they blow into an ASD - Approved Screening Device - at roadside. It does not show a BAC, just a Pass/Warn/Fail. A fail gets you an IRP - Immediate Roadside Prohibition.
Here in BC, it's been years since I saw an impaired case go to trial. I am not sure of your province, but I suspect it's not BC. Here, as long as you are capable of standing up and can blow into the ASD, you don't have to worry about a criminal charge.
I just took a quick look at my own database of all BC criminal cases since 1995. Turned up 1178 impaired driving cases, including impaired care and control, refusing to blow, etc. Did not spot any after 2007, but I did not spend a long time looking. But I know there are few, in any, in recent years,
So yes, find a criminal lawyer. Here in BC, probably not many remember how to defend an impaired charge, apart from basic Charter arguments under, mostly, ss. 9, 10(a) and 10(b) of the Charter. Those kinds of arguments get made in respect of almost any type of criminal charge. You might get lucky and the Crown will withdraw the charge because, in BC at least, Crown counsel would probably not know how to prosecute such a case and the trial judge would likely have no clue as to how to decide it. That's a bit of exaggeration, but not far from the truth.
