What an Ajax DUI lawyer covers in your first call
Our first conversation is about getting you oriented. We usually cover four things:
- Your paperwork. We read your release documents with you and confirm the charges, any conditions and your first appearance date in Oshawa.
- Your licence. We explain the 90-day Administrative Driver's Licence Suspension, the seven-day impoundment and the administrative monetary penalty, and how long each lasts.
- Your timeline. We ask when you last had a drink, when you got behind the wheel, where you were stopped and how long each step took. Details fade quickly, so it helps to write them down now.
- Your priorities. Some clients worry most about a job that requires driving. Others are concerned about immigration status or travel. Your goals shape the strategy.
There is no obligation, and speaking with us is confidential.
Your court depends on where you were stopped, not where you live
This is one of the most common points of confusion for commuters. The location of the stop decides which court hears a DUI case.
Stopped in Ajax. Charges laid anywhere in town, from Pickering Village to Audley, go to the Durham Region Courthouse in Oshawa. The same is true for stops elsewhere in Durham Region, including neighbouring Pickering and Whitby. If your arrest happened just west of the town line, our page on DUI charges in Pickering explains that side of the region.
Stopped in Toronto on the way home. If police pulled you over before you crossed into Durham Region, the Toronto courthouse would normally handle the charge instead. The defence work is the same, but the Crown office, court lists and schedule are different.
Not sure? Look at the court location printed on your release papers. We can confirm it in a few minutes.
Stops on the 401, the 412 and Harwood Avenue
Where you were stopped also tells us which police service investigated you and where its records are kept.
The 401 and the 412
Ajax drivers use the 401 in both directions every day, and many also rely on the 412. Both are 400-series highways patrolled by the OPP. Highway investigations tend to start with an observation such as speed, drifting between lanes or a missed signal. Because the nearest breath instrument may be some distance away, we look closely at the time between the last driving and each breath sample.
Harwood Avenue and neighbourhood streets
On Harwood Avenue and throughout South Ajax, Nottingham and Riverside, most stops are made by the Durham Regional Police Service. RIDE checks are a regular part of Durham enforcement, and drivers tend to encounter them in the evening, on weekends and through the holiday season.
At either kind of stop, the officer does not need to suspect you have been drinking. Under section 320.27(2) of the Criminal Code, an officer with an approved screening device can require a lawfully stopped driver to provide a roadside breath sample. A defence can still examine the lawfulness of the stop, and of every step that followed.
Protecting your job while your licence is suspended
For someone who drives to Toronto every day, the provincial penalties often hurt before the criminal case even starts. They begin immediately and they are separate from the charge.
| Consequence | When it applies | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative Driver's Licence Suspension | At the roadside or station, for over 80, refusal or a drug evaluation finding impairment | 90 days |
| Vehicle impoundment | At the same time as the suspension | 7 days |
| Provincial suspension on conviction | Only if convicted | 1 year for a first conviction |
| Ignition interlock | After reinstatement following a conviction | At least 1 year for a first conviction |
Ontario's reduced suspension program can allow some eligible first offenders who resolve their case early to return to driving sooner with an interlock installed. It is not the right choice for everyone, because it depends on how the criminal case ends. We explain the trade-off before you decide. Our guide to the administrative driver's licence suspension walks through the provincial side in more detail, and our page on first offence DUI charges covers the court penalties.
What the Crown must prove in an Ajax over 80 case
To convict on an over 80 charge, the Crown has to prove that your blood alcohol concentration was 80 mg or more per 100 mL of blood within two hours after you stopped driving. That sounds simple, but proof depends on a chain of steps, each of which can be tested.
We start with disclosure. That usually includes the Intoxilyzer 8000C test records and maintenance logs, the officers' notes, and any in-car or booking video. We compare the times recorded at each stage, check that the breath demand was lawful and look at whether the instrument was operated and maintained properly. Our page on defending over 80 breath readings sets out the issues in more depth, and our explainer on how long a breathalyzer can detect alcohol describes what the instrument records.
Charter rights that can change an Ajax case
Some of the strongest defences have nothing to do with how much you drank. They focus on how police treated you.
- Arbitrary detention (section 9). Was there a lawful reason for the stop, and was it carried out properly?
- Unreasonable search (section 8). Breath and blood samples are searches. The demand has to meet the legal standard.
- Right to counsel (section 10(b)). Police must tell you about your right to a lawyer and give you a real chance to speak with one without delay, in private.
When the defence proves a breach, a judge decides whether to exclude evidence under section 24(2), using the framework from R. v. Grant, 2009 SCC 32. The result depends on the facts of your case.
Refusal and drug-impaired charges in Ajax
Two other charges come up often in Durham Region. A breath test refusal charge applies when a driver fails or refuses a lawful demand without a reasonable excuse. It carries a minimum fine of $2,000 on a first conviction, so refusing is rarely the easier path; our article on what counts as a refusal explains the grey areas. A drug-impaired driving charge can rest on a drug recognition evaluation, the officer's observations or a blood sample, and a defence can challenge each of those.
Working with a Toronto DUI lawyer from Ajax
We do not have an office in Ajax. Our office is at 4950 Yonge Street, Suite 2225 in Toronto, and we travel to the Durham Region Courthouse in Oshawa for Ajax clients. Most people start with a phone or video consultation and share documents electronically, so there is no need to make the drive downtown, which matters when you cannot drive yourself.
If your stop happened a little further east, see our page for impaired driving charges in Whitby, and our page for drivers charged in Oshawa covers the courthouse city itself. For charges laid in Toronto on the way home, our Toronto impaired driving lawyer page explains the downtown courthouse. Wherever in Durham Region police charged you, you can call Jonathan at 647-797-5256, 24 hours a day.