R. v. Clark

Parties

Procedural Posture

Criminal Summary Impaired Driving / Voir Dire on Charter Application and Trial (decision)

Legal Issues

1. 1 Whether the accused's statements to the 911 operator and to police at the roadside were made under statutory compulsion
2. 2 Whether admission of those statements would breach the accused's s.7 Charter right against self-incrimination
3. 3 Whether the compelled statements should be excluded under s.24(1) of the Charter or the court's common law power to ensure trial fairness and if excluded, impact on trial outcome

Ratio Decidendi

The court found on the balance of probabilities that the accused honestly and reasonably believed he was statutorily required to report the collision (via his 911 call and answers to the attending officer), therefore the statements were statutorily compelled; admission of those compelled statements would violate s.7 protection against self-incrimination and the appropriate remedy is exclusion under s.24(1) of the Charter; exclusion was determinative because the Crown conceded identification could not be proven without those statements, resulting in acquittals on both counts.

Court Disposition

Charter application granted; compelled statements excluded; acquittals entered

Orders

• Evidence of the accused's statements to the 911 operator and to police at the roadside excluded pursuant to s.24(1) of the Charter
• Acquittals registered on both counts (sections 320.14(1)(a) and 320.14(1)(b) of the Criminal Code)