On June 18, 2019, defence lawyer Stephen Biss, together with defence lawyer, Adel Afzal, and Saskatoon expert, Jan Semenoff, presented a live webcast to introduce Canadian defence lawyers to the basic operation, use, and misuse of Canada's two Approved Drug Screening Equipment systems, a Dräger DrugTest® 5000 and a Dräger DrugTest® 5000 STK-CA, when used together, and a SoToxa™, an Abbot SoToxa™ Test Cartridge and an Abbott SoToxa™ Oral Fluid Collection Device, when used together. Participants included experts and defence lawyers from Halifax to Vancouver. 

 

It is essential to cross-examination, of police officers and experts, for defence lawyers to have a good understanding of these ADSEs and their cartridges. Defence lawyers need to know about the limitations of these devices, the false positives they will produce, and the likelihood of unreasonable searches by police officers not following standard operating procedures.

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Will CBD oil, for example, register a positive for THC on the ADSE?

 

Will failure to follow the manufacturer's instructions  as to refraining from conducting a test, a short while after consumption of food, render the screening test unreliable?

 

How long do these tests really take?  Does time delay necessitate section 10b advice ?

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The class recording (90 minutes of substantive CPD) is now available together with the videos, PowerPoint, and materials from the live class.

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On June 25, 2019, defence lawyer Adel Afzal presented a live webcast to examine the case law that has developed around Bill C-46 so far, as Courts grapple with the difficult issues that have resulted from this poorly drafted legislation. Prosecutions under this legislation are not proceeding smoothly and members of the public are suffering abuse of their constitutional rights as a result of the botched implementation of this bad legislation. Mr. Afzal followed-up on the March and April 2019 tutorials with in-depth analysis of the new legislation, particularly sections 320.31 and 320.36.

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What are our Courts saying in transition trials (offence pre-December 18, 2018) about the presumptions of identity (the Sheikh cases) and accuracy (the Flores-Vigil cases) ?

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Can you get first party disclosure of DRE rolling logs?

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What issues do we expect will be litigated next?

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The June 25, 2019 recording (90 minutes of substantive CPD) is now available together with the PowerPoints, materials, and case law discussed during the webcast.

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Fee $100 plus HST for both June 18 and June 25 recordings/materials.

 

Participation is limited to Canadian criminal defence lawyers. The webcasts will be recorded so if you have a last minute Court obligation you can watch on-demand. Please download, fill out, and e-mail pdf application below.

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We plan to set up some type of listserv or discussion group for participants in these webcasts so that we can co-operatively follow up on the new case law as it develops. A bulletin board has already been set up at WizIQ for June 18 participants as well as those who access the June 18 recording.

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Fill out the form below and e-mail to biss@lawyers.ca.

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