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
Go Ahead, Move To Canada: Donald Trump Tells Celebrities Threatening To Immigrate
Donald Trump has a message for some of the celebrities musing about leaving for Canada if he's elected president: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Go Ahead, Move To Canada: Donald Trump Tells Celebrities Threatening To Immigrate
French Court Sentences ‘Horror Dentist' Who Was Extradited From Canada
Dutch dentist Jacobus Van Nierop had fled to Canada in late 2013. He was arrested in New Brunswick in 2014 and then ordered extradited.
French Court Sentences ‘Horror Dentist' Who Was Extradited From Canada
N.S. Sex Assault Centre Tries Crowdfunding After Post-Ghomeshi Surge In Business
A Halifax sexual assault centre has become the first in Canada to crowdfund online, saying a string of high-profile cases has tripled wait times for some services.
N.S. Sex Assault Centre Tries Crowdfunding After Post-Ghomeshi Surge In Business
Justice Minister Has Confidence In Advice From Officials Who Fought Assisted Dying
In any event, Wilson-Raybould says Justice officials were not the ones who decided on the restrictive measures included in a proposed new law on assisted death.
Justice Minister Has Confidence In Advice From Officials Who Fought Assisted Dying
J Is For Jazzy Names Given To 13 Cute, Cuddly Four-Legged RCMP Recruits
INNISFAIL, Alta. — The letter "J" figures prominently in a class of 13 RCMP canine recruits that were born at the force's dog training centre near Innisfail, Alta.
J Is For Jazzy Names Given To 13 Cute, Cuddly Four-Legged RCMP Recruits
The Body's Own Healing Power: A Primer On Naturopathic Medicine
Naturopathic medicine aims to stimulate the body's own healing power to fight underlying causes of disease