- If you’re charged with a DUI but have never been in trouble with the law, does that matter in your DUI case?
- Many people charged with a DUI have never been in trouble with the law.
- Most have clean criminal records and clean driving abstracts.
- Most are not alcoholics.
- In other words, these are people with a good character.
- We see many situations where someone had a few drinks and genuinely thought they were okay to drive, but legally they were not.
- Their blood alcohol reading was over 80, and they were charged with Over 80 or Impaired Driving.
- How will their good character play into the prosecution of their DUI case?
- And the answer is, it depends on the facts.
- When the Crown, who is the lawyer representing the Canadian government, reviews your case, they consider two tests.
- First, is there enough evidence to secure a conviction?
- And second, is it in the interest of justice to move ahead with your DUI case?
- If the answer is no to either question, the Crown cannot pursue your DUI charge.
- Assuming there is enough evidence to secure a conviction, then would your “good character” mean that it would not be in the interest of justice to pursue the charge against you?
- In other words, would the Crown look at your case and withdraw the charge because of your good character and clean record?
- And the answer is, no.
- Impaired Driving, Over 80 and Refusal to take a breathalyzer test are serious charges.
- The Crown will not withdraw these charges even if you have a perfect, clean background.
- But that does not mean that your good character won’t help you.
- It will be one data point that the Crown will consider as they prosecute your Impaired Driving, Over 80 or Refusal to Take a Breathalyzer case.
- The Crown will look at all the facts of your case in totality, including your good character.
- The Crown will consider a number of factors, including:
- your blood alcohol readings;
- whether there was an accident or not;
- your interactions with the police officers that arrested you; and
- whether you were alone in your vehicle or whether you had passengers, including kids.
- If the facts of your DUI are not aggravating, then your good character would play some factor for the Crown to consider as they prosecute your DUI case.
- And those facts, as considered in totality, may result in a better outcome than it would have been if you had a background that was not clean.
Does having a good character and a clean criminal record matter in a DUI case?
Having a good character and clean criminal record may be taken into consideration by the Crown, who is the lawyer representing the Canadian government when prosecuting a DUI case. However, it is not a guarantee that the charges will be dropped. The Crown will consider all the facts of the case, including the blood alcohol readings, whether there was an accident, the interactions with the police, and whether you were alone or had passengers in your vehicle. If the facts of the case are not aggravating, good character may be a factor that results in a better outcome.
Will the Crown withdraw DUI charges because of a good character and clean record?
The Crown, who is the lawyer representing the Canadian government, will not withdraw DUI charges such as Impaired Driving, Over 80, and Refusal to take a breathalyzer test, even if the person charged has a good character and clean record. The Crown will consider all the facts of the case, including the blood alcohol readings, whether there was an accident, the interactions with the police, and whether you were alone or had passengers in your vehicle. A good character may be a factor that results in a better outcome, but it is not a guarantee that the charges will be dropped.
