Supreme Court orders new impaired driving trial for Saskatoon man

A Saskatoon man has lost his bid at the Supreme Court of Canada to avoid a new trial on an impaired driving charge.

At issue was whether a police officer was right to demand a breath sample from Curtis Shepherd.

On Jan. 11, 2003, Shepherd drove for a distance of three kilometres while being followed by a police cruiser with its siren on and lights flashing.

He argued he didn't stop immediately because he thought the police car was an ambulance.

On that basis, the original trial judge found the police did not have reasonable and probable grounds to arrest Shepherd and issued an acquittal.

The Crown appealed and the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ordered a new trial.

Friday the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the appeal court's decision saying police had ample evidence to demand a breath sample.

Besides Shepherd's failure to stop, the arresting officer also noticed Shepherd smelled of alcohol, had red eyes and was behaving in a somewhat lethargic manner.