Requirements for this Course:

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• Course is only available to Canadian criminal defence lawyers

• Participants should be willing to learn how to cross-examine qualified technicians and Crown experts

• Lawyers should be willing to read some scientific articles

• You need to be a lawyer who is willing to think outside the box of conventional wisdom about Intoxilyzers always being reliable

• You need to be curious about why police do forensic measurement the way that they sometimes do

• Students need to be willing to raise a constitutional challenge

• Be willing to find, learn from, cultivate, and use expert witnesses

 

Description

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The old section 258(1)(c) presumptions of identity and accuracy have been repealed. The new presumption of accuracy (conclusive proof not a presumption) is contained in section 320.31(1). There is no requirement that the tests be as soon as practicable. There are new conditions precedent, however, that defence lawyers need to understand. Those new conditions precedent include "a system blank test the result of which is not more than 10 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood and a system calibration check the result of which is within 10% of the target value of an alcohol standard that is certified by an analyst". This course studies these and other conditions precedent and helps lawyers to litigate section 320. The course draws heavily from live tutorials for defence lawyers held by the author in Mississauga and Ottawa. The course contains many downloadable resources to assist defence lawyers. This course is a comprehensive online explanation of the disclosure, cross-examination of qualified technician, cross-examination of Crown expert, and Intoxilyzer 8000C sequence issues that can be litigated under the current Criminal Code.

This course provides ongoing and expanded continuing education as contemplated by the Executive Summary pp. 20-21 to the Report of the Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review by Independent Reviewer, The Honourable Susan E. Lang :

"There should be ongoing and expanded continuing legal education for counsel, including child protection counsel, and for the judiciary regarding expert evidence, particularly expert scientific evidence. Members of the bar should ensure that they understand the scope and limitations of an expert’s opinion and expertise. In addition, they should exercise care to qualify an expert properly and set precise parameters on an expert’s area of expertise. Counsel should be vigilant to ensure that justice is not undermined by the use of flawed forensic evidence. The recommendations of the Goudge Report continue toprovide valuable insights on these issues."

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Who this course is for:

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• Canadian criminal defence lawyers who wish to fight drinking and driving cases

• Defence lawyers who like to think "outside of the box"

• Young lawyers or experienced advocates who want to learn something new and challenging