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. Man Facing Sexual Assault Charges In Denver Released From Custody
Colby Messer has been charged with six counts of sexual assault after a 27-year-old woman alleged she was sexually assaulted at a Denver hotel last November
B.C. Man Facing Sexual Assault Charges In Denver Released From Custody
Business Groups To Urge New Brunswick Government To End Fracking Moratorium
A collection of business groups is calling on the New Brunswick government to lift its fracking moratorium.
Business Groups To Urge New Brunswick Government To End Fracking Moratorium
'Almost Fell Over:' Alberta Couple Expecting Bundle Of Joy Times Four
Tim and Bethani Webb of Hythe planned to have a family when they got married last June and were thrilled when they found out not long after that they were expecting.
'Almost Fell Over:' Alberta Couple Expecting Bundle Of Joy Times Four
Searchers Expand Efforts To Find Crab Fishermen Missing Off Vancouver Island
The unnamed men were reported overdue early Sunday morning, almost two days after they set out from the Port Renfrew area, about 100 kilometres northwest of Victoria.
Searchers Expand Efforts To Find Crab Fishermen Missing Off Vancouver Island
Canadian Drugmaker Valeant Share Plunge After CEO Subpoenaed By Congress
Shares of beleaguered Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals are plunging again after its CEO was subpoenaed by a congressional committee.
Canadian Drugmaker Valeant Share Plunge After CEO Subpoenaed By Congress
Activists Want To See More Environment Talk In Saskatchewan Election
Current Premier Brad Wall — one of the loudest voices against a national carbon tax — is riding high in the polls heading into Monday's election.