Chances of Winning a DUI Case in Ontario

Can You Win a DUI Case in Ontario?

Your chances of winning a DUI case depend on the evidence, the police investigation, and the defences available in your case.

Being charged with impaired driving or DUI does not mean you will be found guilty. Police evidence can contain mistakes, inconsistencies, missing information, Charter issues, and other problems that may provide a defence.

For more than 25 years, impaired driving lawyer Nicholas Charitsis has represented drivers facing DUI and drinking and driving charges in Toronto and throughout the GTA. As a former Crown Attorney, he understands how these cases are prosecuted and where to look for weaknesses that can be used to fight them.

Can You Win a DUI Case in Ontario?

Yes, DUI charges can be successfully fought, but every case depends on its own evidence.

There is no reliable percentage that can tell you your chances of winning before an impaired driving lawyer reviews the case. Two people charged with the same offence may have very different evidence and very different defences.

The important question is not simply, “Was I charged?” It is whether the Crown Attorney can prove the charge after the police investigation and evidence have been carefully examined.

What Affects Your Chances of Winning a DUI Case?

The strength of the Crown’s evidence and the defences available to you can determine how your case is resolved.

Several factors can make a significant difference.

What Happened Before You Were Arrested?

The circumstances leading to the impaired driving charge matter. The defence will consider how you were driving, why the police stopped you, whether there was an accident, what witnesses observed, and what happened before and after the traffic stop.

For example: Police may describe someone’s driving as evidence of impairment, while video, road conditions, or another explanation may tell a different story.

What Did the Police Observe?

Police officers commonly rely on observations such as slurred speech, red or bloodshot eyes, poor balance, confusion, the smell of alcohol, or difficulty following instructions.

Those observations should not simply be accepted as proof of impairment.

A medical condition, injury, fatigue, anxiety, an accident, or other circumstances may explain behaviour that police interpreted as alcohol or drug impairment.

Are There Problems With the Breath Tests?

Breathalyzer results can be important evidence in a DUI case, but the readings are only part of the investigation.

An impaired driving lawyer can examine the timing of the breath samples, blood alcohol concentration readings, police procedures, testing records, breath demands, and other evidence surrounding the tests.

Problems with how breath evidence was obtained or used may become part of the defence.

Does the Police Evidence Match the Video?

Police notes and testimony can be compared with body-camera footage, cruiser video, surveillance footage, witness evidence, and other disclosure.

For example: An officer may describe a driver as unsteady and having difficulty speaking, while video appears to show the person walking and communicating normally.

An inconsistency like this can be important when challenging the Crown’s evidence of impairment.

Is Evidence Missing From the Disclosure?

The Crown must provide the defence with relevant disclosure in its possession. This can include police notes, witness statements, video, breath-testing records, reports, and other evidence relating to the impaired driving investigation.

Missing evidence, incomplete records, inconsistencies, or unexplained gaps may require further investigation.

A detailed disclosure review is often where an impaired driving lawyer begins finding problems that were not obvious when the driver was first arrested.

Were Your Charter Rights Violated?

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides important protections during an impaired driving investigation.

For example, there may be issues involving your detention, your right to speak with a lawyer, unreasonable delay, search and seizure, or the way police obtained evidence.

Where a Charter violation occurred, the defence may ask the court to exclude evidence. Depending on the evidence affected, that can significantly change the Crown’s case.

What Does Reasonable Doubt Have to Do With Winning?

The Crown must prove an impaired driving charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

When a drinking and driving charge goes to trial, the judge must consider all the evidence. If the judge has a reasonable doubt about whether the Crown has proven an important part of the impaired driving charge, the accused must be found not guilty.

This is why small details can become important.

An inconsistency in a police officer’s testimony, missing evidence, unreliable observations, a problem with breath testing, or a legal issue may raise questions about whether the Crown has actually proven its case.

An impaired driving lawyer looks for these weaknesses and uses the evidence, legal arguments, and cross-examination to show where reasonable doubt exists.

Can Police Mistakes Help You Win a DUI Case?

Yes. Mistakes in an impaired driving investigation can weaken the Crown’s case and may provide a defence.

Police officers investigate many criminal offences, but impaired driving investigations involve detailed legal and technical requirements.

An officer’s notes may be incomplete. Evidence may conflict with video. Testing procedures may raise questions. Important timelines may not match. A witness may remember events differently. Police procedures or Charter requirements may not have been followed correctly.

This is why the police investigation needs to be examined rather than simply accepted.

Can Cross-Examination Change a DUI Trial?

Cross-examination can expose mistakes, inconsistencies, and weaknesses in police and witness evidence.

At an impaired driving trial, the police officer may be questioned about what they saw, what they wrote in their notes, the breath-testing procedures they followed, statements that were made, and how they conducted the investigation.

An experienced DUI lawyer can compare that testimony with the disclosure, video, testing records, and other evidence.

If important parts of the officer’s evidence do not withstand cross-examination, those weaknesses can help create reasonable doubt.

Does Your Choice of DUI Lawyer Affect Your Chances?

Experience can matter because impaired driving cases often turn on small details in the evidence and police investigation.

For more than 25 years, Nicholas Charitsis has focused his criminal practice on impaired driving, DUI, Drive Over 80, breath test refusals, and other drinking and driving cases.

His background as a former Crown Attorney provides insight into how impaired driving cases are prosecuted. As an impaired driving lawyer, Nicholas knows where to look for problems in police evidence, breath testing, disclosure, Charter issues, and witness testimony.

Charitsis Law has successfully represented hundreds of drivers facing impaired driving and related DUI charges. That reputation is reflected in more than 350 positive Google reviews and 122 LawyerRatingz reviews, together with additional reviews on other independent websites.

What Defences Can Help You Win a DUI Case?

There may be more defences to your impaired driving charge than you realize.

A defence can arise from police observations, breath testing, medical explanations, disclosure, Charter violations, witness evidence, video, police procedures, cross-examination, or whether the Crown can prove impairment beyond a reasonable doubt.

No lawyer can determine the right defence without first understanding what happened and reviewing the evidence.

For a deeper explanation, read our guide to 25 defences to impaired driving and learn about the issues our DUI lawyers examine when fighting these charges.

How Do I Know My Chances of Winning?

The best way to understand your chances is to have an impaired driving lawyer review what happened and the evidence against you.

Do not assume the police have an unbeatable case simply because you were arrested, failed a breath test, or were charged with impaired driving. The strength of the case may look very different after the disclosure, police procedures, video, breath-testing evidence, and legal issues have been carefully examined.

If you want to know what can be done to fight your DUI charge, call impaired driving lawyer Nicholas Charitsis at 416-731-7113. Let’s talk about what happened, the evidence against you, and the defences that may apply to your case.

Impaired Driving Lawyers for DUI Defence

If you are facing a DUI or any drinking and driving charge, Charitsis Law represents clients throughout Southern Ontario. Meet with an experienced criminal defence lawyer at our offices in Brampton, Oshawa, Aurora, Newmarket, or Muskoka, or contact us to discuss your case and the court process.

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