Impaired driving on the docket
Cases involving more than 20 people were before the courts around P.E.I. in one week
German Santos Teodoro walked into a Charlottetown courtroom without a criminal record.
He left escorted by a sheriff and was later taken to jail.
Teodoro, 33, was one of seven people on the Thursday, March 7, docket in provincial court in Charlottetown facing impaired driving charges.
Court started at 9 a.m. Teodoro's matter was called at 9:10 a.m.
Teodoro pleaded guilty to impaired driving and then sat quietly next to his lawyer at the defence table as the facts were read in court.
Teodoro drove drunk on Christmas Eve in Charlottetown, while more than double the legal alcohol limit. He was arrested on Euston Street shortly after 4:29 a.m.
Teodoro is a permanent resident of Mexican descent. He works as a mechanic.
Teodoro made a mistake and wants to put the matter behind him, his lawyer said.
Readings of 80 milligrams of alcohol and over in 100 millilitres of blood are a Criminal Code of Canada offence. Readings of 120 mg and 160 mg are considered to be aggravating factors at sentencing. With readings of 190 mg, Teodoro passed both of those benchmarks.
Given those readings, Chief Judge Jeff Lantz sentenced Teodoro to five days in jail, a $2,000 fine and a $600 victim surcharge. Teodoro is banned from driving for one year plus the time in jail. He was given one year to pay the $2,600 total.
COURT DOCKET
There were a few outliers on the March 7 docket. Todd Joseph Gallant, the man accused of murdering Byron Carr, had a brief appearance and a further adjournment. Another man also made a first court appearance on child pornography charges.
But for the most part, the docket had matters that are frequently seen in Charlottetown week after week – numerous impaired driving charges as well as thefts, assaults, drug trafficking, possession of stolen property, break and enter and weapons offences. Fifty-four people in total were on the docket that day facing various charges.
By comparison, eight impaired driving matters were also on the March 7 Georgetown provincial court docket before Judge Nancy Orr, and in Summerside provincial court, six impaired driving matters were scheduled for the week of March 4-8. Orr typically has a lengthy court docket on Mondays in Charlottetown with numerous impaired driving charges. However, that week, she only had one person charged with refusing a breathalyzer demand, and that matter was adjourned.
After dealing with each matter on the seven-page court docket (and youth court), Lantz sat down with Saltwire in the afternoon to discuss the topic of impaired driving.
Lantz, 63, became a provincial court judge in 2005 – first in Summerside and now in Charlottetown.
DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING
A particular concern for Lantz is the increase in drugimpaired driving offences, the judge noted. With cannabis, federal legislation enacted in 2018 identifies specific amounts of THC (or tetrahydrocannabinol) someone can have in their system at the time of an impaired driving offence. THC is measured in nanograms (ng) per one millilitre of blood. Readings at two ng but under five ng are a summary offence and punishable by a fine. Readings of five ng and above are treated the same in P.E.I. as impaired driving by alcohol offences and usually result in jail time, fines and a driving prohibition. A hybrid offence of two ng of THC and higher along with 50 mg of alcohol is also treated like impaired by alcohol driving offences.
Also concerning is the increase and impact that drugs like methamphetamine and, more recently, fentanyl are having in the community, not just with impaired driving but also other offences, said Lantz.
"We avoided meth for so long, but now it's hit us with a vengeance. We're seeing all the fallout from that – whether it's the impaireds or just all of the other mayhem that goes with it. And now we're getting fentanyl, which may take us to another level."
In fact, Lantz sentenced someone earlier that day in court for an impaired by methamphetamine driving offence.
That offender – Michael Joseph Gallant – was on methamphetamine and other drugs when he drove on the city streets on July 18, 2023, and got into a three-car collision.
Unlike THC, which has specific amounts that correspond to how the matter is treated in court, any detectible amount of methamphetamine in a person's system can lead to a criminal conviction. Other drugs on that so-called zero-tolerance list include cocaine, LSD, heroin, magic mushrooms (psilocybin and psilocin), ketamine and phencyclidine (or PCP).
Gallant, 35, pleaded guilty and got a five-day jail sentence, a $1,500 fine, a $450 victim surcharge and a oneyear and five-day driving ban.
Gallant has a job and was allowed to serve the sentence on weekends. Gallant also had a prior criminal record, but it was his first conviction for impaired driving.
Other impaired driving matters on the docket that day were adjourned to a later date for plea or sentencing.
YOUNG DRIVERS
Lantz recalled that when he began his career as a judge, young people were seen as a "shining example" for everyone else in terms of impaired driving.
"Kids got the sense not to do it, then surely parents or older people would have the sense, too," he said.
But these days, Lantz has seen a shift in the number of youthful impaired drivers in court that is concerning.
No one fitting that criteria was on the March 7 docket. But a week earlier on Feb. 29, Lantz sentenced Aysha Christine Dulisse, 20, to 45 days in jail for impaired driving along with $2,600 in fines and a driving ban.
Dulisse was arrested and charged on Dec. 17 after police received a complaint that someone was drunk driving after trying to buy beer from a Mel's convenience store. Charlottetown police located Dulisse behind the wheel of a vehicle parked on the side of a road. Dulisse refused a breathalyzer demand and was convicted for that offence.
"It's embarrassing and it's shameful that I'm here once again," Dulisse said in court at the time of her sentencing.
Just a year older than the legal drinking age, it was Dulisse's second impaired driving conviction.
EDUCATION IS KEY
Prior to becoming a provincial court judge, Lantz was a lawyer, and in 2000, was elected to the P.E.I. legislature as a Progressive Conservative MLA (District 13 – Charlottetown‐rochford Square) in the Pat Binns government. Lantz held a number of positions in government, including attorney general, minister of tourism and minister of education. After one term, Lantz didn't seek re-election.
High readings and incidents involving newcomers are a couple of things that stand out for Lantz about impaired driving offences. The number of newcomers is particularly surprising given that a conviction can result in jail time and possibly deportation, he said.
In terms of what needs to change about impaired driving in the province and getting the message through to people about the consequences, Lantz recalled his time in government and the importance that allocating resources towards youth in other areas can have with future behaviour.
"The threat of jail doesn't seem to work," Lantz said. "Targeting the younger people in school seemed to work for a while. Education – it's the answer to a lot of problems. If you can get to kids at a really young age and really get the resources to them, it makes a big difference in the long run."
“We avoided meth for so long, but now it’s hit us with a vengeance. We’re seeing all the fallout from that – whether it’s the impaireds or just all of the other mayhem that goes with it. And now we’re getting fentanyl, which may take us to another level.”
Chief Judge Jeff Lantz