By Charlene Tebbutt

Closing arguments in P.A. Police officer impaired driving trial

Sep 4, 2018 | 6:15 PM

Closing arguments concluded Friday at Prince Albert Provincial Court in the case involving local police officer Brett Lee Henry. 

The 36-year-old is on trial for allegedly driving while impaired in March of last year. The trial started in April and has been adjourned several times.

Henry has pleaded not guilty to the charge of impaired driving.

First up Tuesday was Henry’s defence lawyer, Michael Owens. Owens reviewed earlier testimony from Crown witnesses at the trial who said they saw Henry drinking the night of the alleged incident and thought he should not be driving. Owens said the public doesn’t have a good understanding of what being impaired actually means, and that simply consuming alcohol doesn’t necessarily mean a person is impaired. He said other factors, such as a person’s tolerance level, size and time, can also have an impact on level of intoxication.

Owens also pointed to video surveillance footage shown in court from the night of the alleged incident, saying it only showed snippets of the evening, and not the eight or so hours from the time Henry is seen arriving at the first bar, and then leaving a third bar early the next morning. Owens said Henry may have become obnoxious, but added that may just be the way he is. Owens called the case circumstantial and said there is no evidence that his client had been driving badly. 

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“It’s kind of like if you watch Gone with the Wind in a minute and a half, you just can’t get the whole picture,” Owens said Tuesday.

“We’re talking about, is their ability to drive affected by alcohol, not whether he was a nice guy from one moment to the next.”

Regina Crown Prosecutor Bill Burge told the court Tuesday that the case isn’t so much about what Henry was drinking the night of the alleged incident, but how the alcohol affected him. Burge said Henry showed significant signs of impairment the night of March 2, 2017 and into the early morning hours of March 3, highlighting evidence from several witnesses, including a server and two bartenders, who felt that Henry was too impaired to drive.

Burge pointed to testimony that Henry was squinting while looking at his phone, needed help finding his wallet, was swaying and knocked over a glass at one location. Burge said Henry was clearly impaired. Comparing his movements at the start of the evening, where Henry appears to be alert, confident and “in control of himself” , Burge said Henry is seen at the end of the night leaning against the bar, walking with an uneven gait and is observed looking around him after someone taps him on the shoulder.

“He seems to be suffering from something, I would suggest, that makes him not very alert,” Burge added.

“In my submission, this is all due to the considerable amount of alcohol that he drank.”

Henry testified at the last court date in June that he drank five schooners of beer at one bar and seven Godfathers – which include one ounce each of Scotch and Amaretto – at another bar, before driving to a third location. He said he had been struggling with anxiety and depression from the stress of his job, including the death of a colleague several years ago, and was concerned about mental health supports within the police force. While he said he had been drinking, Henry testified that he was not impaired. 

The judge in the case has reserved his decision until October 26.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt