Can a police officer who stopped and detained a driver for an ASD test be held in bad faith?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from R. v. Rowland, 2018 ONCJ 868 (CanLII):

Although the officer cannot be said to have acted in bad faith, and I do not make such a finding, I note the court’s comments in Regina v. Au-Yeung, 2010 ONSC 2292, at paragraph 55 where the court stated: “The reputation of the administration of justice is jeopardized by judicial indifference to unacceptable police conduct. Police officers who stop and detain motorists in order to perform ASD tests must execute their duties efficiently, competently, and accurately. There is no question that the need to combat drinking and driving is a pressing social concern. The public therefore accepts the use of breath samples both for roadside screening and ultimately for the determination of blood alcohol levels. Nonetheless the administration of justice would inevitably fall into disrepute if such shoddy police conduct were permitted to form the basis for the arrest, detention, and subsequent testing of drivers.”

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