John Patrick McDonald, former high sheriff of Newfoundland and Labrador, has been found guilty of driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit.
Judge Lois Skanes delivered her verdict this morning in provincial court in St. John’s, finding McDonald guilty of operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level greater than 80 mg in 100 ml of blood. A charge of operating a vehicle while impaired was stayed.
In her decision, Skanes rejected McDonald’s testimony of how much alcohol he consumed in the night of his arrest — he was arrested in the early morning of Jan. 4 — concluding that it was not consistent with the level of alcohol found in his blood when police gave him a breathalyzer test.
Skanes also rejected the testimony of Dr. John Weber, an associate professor at Memorial University’s School of Pharmacy, who testified in January that McDonald most likely — taking into consideration factors like his age, weight and sex — had a blood-alcohol level between 40 and 70 mg in 100 ml of blood.
McDonald will be sentenced Monday.
Thankfully WHADDAYA AT hasn't had any experience being charged with Impaired Driving offences. Police will almost always charge a person with two separate charges: Impaired Driving(Referred to as Straight Impaired) and Operate Motor Vehicle With Blood Alcohol Over Legal Limit. HOWEVER, if convicted on one of these charges, the other is dropped. This is routine, and Mr. McDonald wasn't given any special treatment, thankfully. To be convicted of both would be akin to being convicted twice for the same offence.