Locations We Serve: Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Drayton Valley, Lloydminister, Red Deer

Refusal or Failure to Provide a Sample

The Short Version:

a. You get charged with refusal when you do not provide a sample when the police ask you to.

b. Whether or not you should provide a sample depends on the circumstances.  You should call a DUI lawyer to help you decide.  Mr. Pearse answers the phone 24 hours a day.

The Long Version:

Another charge that commonly comes up in a DUI investigation is commonly referred to as a “refusal” or “failure” charge. This charge refers to the fact that the accused was either unwilling or unable to provide a sample on either an approved screening device or a breathalyzer. This is also a criminal offence as per section 254(5) of the criminal code.

DUI Lawyers are often asked “Should I provide a sample at the police station or not?”  Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this. Whether or not it is in the accused’s best interest to provide a sample will often depend on the specifics facts of the individual case. While it is safe to say that in the majority of cases the accused is better off to provide a sample, this is not always true, and should not be taken as a rule of thumb. If the accused is detained by the police, the best thing to do is to call a lawyer to review the file before the sample is given. This is why Mr. Pearse answers the phone more or less 24 hours a day. It is very normal for people who are charged with impaired driving to be picked up late at night, in the early-morning, on weekends or holidays and generally outside of regular business hours.

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