Crown must draw clear link between licence suspension order and offence: Ontario Court of Appeal

The Ontario Court of Appeal has overturned a conviction of driving while disqualified because the Crown failed to link a licence suspension order with the offence that resulted in the suspension.In March 2005, David Suho Chuang was convicted of dangerous driving and received a two-year licence suspension. Once the suspension lapsed, Chuang failed to take the necessary steps to have his driver’s license reinstated. In November 2007, he was charged with two counts of operating a motor vehicle while disqualified from doing so.”The Crown demonstrated that the appellant’s licence was suspended under provincial law for failure to complete a remedial programme in October 2008,” wrote a three-judge Court of Appeal panel. “However, the evidence relied on by the Crown – a certificate and Notice of Suspension effective November 30, 2005 – failed to prove that that suspension was in consequence of the appellant’s dangerous driving conviction in March 2005 so as to bring the suspension within the definition under s. 259(5) [of the Criminal Code of Canada].”The panel of judges allowed the appeal, set aside the convictions and granted acquittals on both counts of driving while disqualified from doing so.