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Written By
Serhiy Senatorov
TRAFFIC LAW Paralegal Services
Licensed Paralegal

SUN TIMES

Lawyers say it has become harder to beat drinking and driving charges since Criminal Code changes last year all but eliminated the so-called "two-beer defence," which attacked breath test results.

"I think that it has very significantly affected the scope of defence that can be put forward on impaired operation and over- 80 charges," said Clayton Conlan, president of Grey County Criminal Lawyers' Association, in a recent interview.

Until July 2, 2008, people could testify the accused drank less than the breathalyzer instrument indicated, so critics called it the two-beer defence.

A hired toxicologist would testify the accused's blood-alcohol concentration must have been lower than the test indicated, based on body weight and consumption.

Defence lawyers would then argue the breathalyser must have been wrong, without having any direct evidence it malfunctioned.

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