Blood Sample Warrants in Conveyance Investigations

General Principles

Samples of breath or blood — alcohol

320.28 (1) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has operated a conveyance while the person’s ability to operate it was impaired to any degree by alcohol or has committed an offence under paragraph 320.14(1)(b), the peace officer may, by demand made as soon as practicable,

(a) require the person to provide, as soon as practicable,

(i) the samples of breath that, in a qualified technician’s opinion, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made by means of an approved instrument, or

(ii) if the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that, because of their physical condition, the person may be incapable of providing a sample of breath or it would be impracticable to take one, the samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to determine the person’s blood alcohol concentration; and

(b) require the person to accompany the peace officer for the purpose of taking samples of that person’s breath or blood.

Evaluation and samples of blood — drugs

(2) If a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has operated a conveyance while the person’s ability to operate it was impaired to any degree by a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug, or has committed an offence under paragraph 320.14(1)(c) or (d) or subsection 320.14(4), the peace officer may, by demand, made as soon as practicable, require the person to comply with the requirements of either or both of paragraphs (a) and (b):

(a) to submit, as soon as practicable, to an evaluation conducted by an evaluating officer to determine whether the person’s ability to operate a conveyance is impaired by a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug, and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose; or

(b) to provide, as soon as practicable, the samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to determine the person’s blood drug concentration, or the person’s blood drug concentration and blood alcohol concentration, as the case may be, and to accompany the peace officer for that purpose.

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Samples of bodily substances

(4) If, on completion of the evaluation, the evaluating officer has reasonable grounds to believe that one or more of the types of drugs set out in subsection (5) — or that a combination of alcohol and one or more of those types of drugs — is impairing the person’s ability to operate a conveyance, the evaluating officer shall identify the type or types of drugs in question and may, by demand made as soon as practicable, require the person to provide, as soon as practicable,

(a) a sample of oral fluid or urine that, in the evaluating officer’s opinion, is necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to ascertain the presence in the person’s body of one or more of the types of drugs set out in subsection (5); or

(b) the samples of blood that, in the opinion of the qualified medical practitioner or qualified technician taking the samples, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to ascertain the presence in the person’s body of one or more of the types of drugs set out in subsection (5) or to determine the person’s blood drug concentration for one or more of those types of drugs.

Types of drugs

(5) For the purpose of subsection (4), the types of drugs are the following:

(a) a depressant;

(b) an inhalant;

(c) a dissociative anaesthetic;

(d) cannabis;

(e) a stimulant;

(f) a hallucinogen; or

(g) a narcotic analgesic.

Condition

(6) A sample of blood may be taken from a person under this section only by a qualified medical practitioner or a qualified technician, and only if they are satisfied that taking the sample would not endanger the person’s health.

Approved containers

(7) A sample of blood shall be received into an approved container that shall be subsequently sealed.

Retained sample

(8) A person who takes samples of blood under this section shall cause one of the samples to be retained for the purpose of analysis by or on behalf of the person from whom the blood samples were taken.

Validity of analysis not affected

(9) A failure to comply with subsection (7) or (8) does not by itself affect the validity of the taking of the sample or of an analysis made of the sample.

Release of retained sample

(10) A judge of a superior court of criminal jurisdiction or a court of criminal jurisdiction shall, on the summary application of the person from whom samples of blood were taken under this section, made within six months after the day on which the samples were taken, order the release of any sample that was retained to the person for the purpose of examination or analysis, subject to any terms that the judge considers appropriate to ensure that the sample is safeguarded and preserved for use in any proceedings in respect of which it was taken.
2018, c. 21, s. 15.

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Warrant to Take Samples

Warrants to obtain blood samples

320.29 (1) A justice may issue a warrant authorizing a peace officer to require a qualified medical practitioner or a qualified technician to take the samples of a person’s blood that, in the opinion of the practitioner or technician taking the samples, are necessary to enable a proper analysis to be made to determine the person’s blood alcohol concentration or blood drug concentration, or both, if the justice is satisfied, on an information on oath in Form 1 or on an information on oath submitted to the justice by telephone or other means of telecommunication, that

(a) there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person has, within the preceding eight hours, operated a conveyance that was involved in an accident that resulted in bodily harm to themselves or another person or in the death of another person;

(b) there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person has alcohol or a drug in their body; and

(c) a qualified medical practitioner is of the opinion that

(i) by reason of any physical or mental condition of the person, the person is unable to consent to the taking of samples of their blood, and

(ii) the taking of samples of the person’s blood will not endanger their health.

Form

(2) A warrant issued under subsection (1) may be in Form 5 or 5.1, varied to suit the case.

Procedure — telephone or other means of telecommunication

(3) Section 487.1 applies, with any modifications that the circumstances require, in respect of an application for a warrant that is submitted by telephone or other means of telecommunication.

Duration of warrant

(4) Samples of blood may be taken from a person under a warrant issued under subsection (1) only during the time that a qualified medical practitioner is satisfied that the conditions referred to in subparagraphs (1)(c)(i) and (ii) continue to exist.

Copy or facsimile to person

(5) If a warrant issued under subsection (1) is executed, the peace officer shall, as soon as practicable, give a copy of it — or, in the case of a warrant issued by telephone or other means of telecommunication, a facsimile — to the person from whom the samples of blood are taken.

Taking of samples

(6) Subsections 320.28(7) to (10) apply with respect to the taking of samples of blood under this section.
2018, c. 21, s. 15.

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Testing blood — drug or alcohol

320.3 Samples of a person’s blood that are taken for the purposes of this Part may be analyzed to determine the person’s blood alcohol concentration or blood drug concentration, or both.
2018, c. 21, s. 15.

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Blood Sample Seizure in Impaired Driving Investigations (Until December 13, 2018)

• Blood Sample Seizure in Impaired Driving Investigations (Until December 13, 2018)