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
Coffee-Tossing Toronto Woman Seen In Viral Timmies Tantrum Video Gets Police Warning
Videographer, Ryan Favro, had declined to press a criminal complaint but officers still paid a visit to the woman
Coffee-Tossing Toronto Woman Seen In Viral Timmies Tantrum Video Gets Police Warning
Liberals' Maiden 'Sunny Ways' Budget Showers Spending, Deficits To Spur Growth
The new Liberal government delivered a sunny ways budget Tuesday brimming with optimism and billion-dollar spending increases spread across a wide spectrum of society.
Liberals' Maiden 'Sunny Ways' Budget Showers Spending, Deficits To Spur Growth
Toronto Liberal MP Arnold Chan Faces Second Battle In Two Years With Rare Cancer
The MP for Scarborough-Agincourt says a recent routine check-up revealed that his cancer has returned.
Toronto Liberal MP Arnold Chan Faces Second Battle In Two Years With Rare Cancer
Animal Rights Group Urges Victoria Council To Ban Horse-drawn Carriages
Jordan Reichert, of the Victoria Horse Alliance, says the group will present its case to Victoria city council on Thursday.
Animal Rights Group Urges Victoria Council To Ban Horse-drawn Carriages
5 Killed After Van Hits Truck, Veers Off Road And Bursts Into Flames In Newfoundland
RCMP in Whitbourne today confirmed the number of deaths in the accident near the Long Harbour overpass at about 6 a.m. Tuesday.
5 Killed After Van Hits Truck, Veers Off Road And Bursts Into Flames In Newfoundland
WestJet Denies Sex-Assault Claims From Former B.C. Flight Attendant Mandalena Lewis
WestJet is rejecting allegations that it failed to take appropriate action after a former flight attendant reported being sexually assaulted by a pilot in 2010 while on an overnight stopover in Hawaii.