TORONTO — A drunk man found sleeping behind the wheel of his idling parked truck has lost his bid to take his impaired driving conviction to Ontario's top court.
In a decision Wednesday, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected plans by Hugh O'Neill to argue he had only started the engine to keep warm and had no intention of driving.
O'Neill was found behind the wheel in the early hours of a December morning parked in a lot outside an industrial building in London, Ont. Court documents show a police officer had difficulty waking him. His blood-alcohol level was well in excess of the legal limit. He was convicted at trial. An initial appeal was dismissed.
O'Neill argued at trial that friends had driven him back to his truck after a night of drinking and he climbed in with the aim of sleeping until he was sober. He testified he had woken during the night, got out to relieve himself, and then got back in. At that point, he said, he had started the truck to keep warm and fell asleep again.
However, he insisted he planned to go get breakfast in the morning before driving to work.
![](https://media.darpanmagazine.com/library/uploads/news/content/arested1#</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
at his trial, o'neill took issue with the application of a section of the criminal code that assumes that someone in the driver's seat is deemed to have care or control of the vehicle unless they can show they had no intention of setting the vehicle in motion.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
the trial judge sided with the prosecution that the presumption applied — and that he had failed to rebut it.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
on his initial appeal, he argued his evidence could have supported the conclusion that he had no intention to drive until he had sobered up. the summary appeal judge rejected his view that his intention to drive later did not automatically rebut the legal presumption that he had care and control of the truck when he was found drunk.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
in declining to hear the case, the appeal court noted leave to challenge a decision on a question of law and is granted sparingly and that his grounds were weak.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"(o'neill) did not satisfy the trial judge that it was his intention to leave the vehicle and to walk to some unidentified place for breakfast," the appeal court said.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"(his) evidence on this point was ambiguous at best, and he has identified no palpable and overriding error in the trial judge's assessment of that evidence."</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
.jpg)
MORE National ARTICLES
B.C. Backs Away From Controversial Homeless Shelter Site In Maple Ridge
The B.C. government is abandoning plans for a homeless shelter at an old motel in Maple Ridge, east of Vancouver.
B.C. Backs Away From Controversial Homeless Shelter Site In Maple Ridge
One Person In Hospital, One In Police Custody After Stabbing At Dollarama Store
RCMP in Trinity Conception responded to the store in Bay Roberts at around 10:30 this morning after getting reports about the attack.
One Person In Hospital, One In Police Custody After Stabbing At Dollarama Store
Police Yet To Talk To Person Of Interest In Death Of Halifax Yoga Instructor
Police found the body of 32-year-old Kristin Elizabeth Johnston in a home in Purcells Cove on Saturday.
Police Yet To Talk To Person Of Interest In Death Of Halifax Yoga Instructor
Police Investigate Shooting Death Of Man Found On Halifax-Area Sidewalk
Officers responded to reports of shots being fired around Spring Avenue and Mount Edward Road in Dartmouth at 5:20 a.m. today.
Police Investigate Shooting Death Of Man Found On Halifax-Area Sidewalk
Massive Police Presence As Montreal Police Arrest Two In Online Threat Case
Local police said they received a tip from another force about someone making threats on social media.
Massive Police Presence As Montreal Police Arrest Two In Online Threat Case
RCMP Charge Preventatively Detained Ontario Man Kevin Mohamed With Terror Offence
Kevin Mohamed, 23, of Ajax, Ont., appeared in court in Brampton, Ont., briefly today and was remanded until April 19 for a bail hearing.