EDMONTON - Peter Goldring was unco-operative, rude and had to be removed from his SUV the night he refused to provide a breath sample to police, his arresting officer testified Thursday.
Const. Trevor Shelrud pulled Goldring over after seeing a vehicle leave the parking lot of a north-Edmonton bar just before midnight on Dec. 4, 2011, the officer told court during the first day of Goldring’s trial.
Goldring, the member of Parliament for Edmonton-East, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of failing to provide a breath sample.
Goldring was polite at first, Shelrud said, and told the officer he had one beer and would submit to a breath test. The politician had been at a fundraiser in the neighbourhood.
Goldring then became unco-operative, ignored the officer’s demands and refused to give a breath sample, Shelrud said. He refused to get off his cellphone and yelled at the officer that he was talking to his wife.
Goldring repeatedly asked why he had been pulled over.
“He was really condescending, snarky, dismissive, he raised his voice, he was cutting me off,” Shelrud said. “The impression I got was that he really didn’t like being told what to do. I was getting commanding and I don’t think he liked that.”
At one point Goldring got out of his SUV, approached the officer and said he was in a hurry and needed to go home. Under cross-examination, Shelrud said he believed Goldring was trying to “negotiate his way out of it,” or pleading to be let go.
Goldring then locked himself inside his Ford Explorer and refused to get out when told he was under arrest. One officer had to reach through the half-open window to unlock the door and Shelrud pulled Goldring from the driver’s seat, handcuffed him and sat him in the back of the police cruiser.
Shelrud said Goldring mentioned he was an MP when he handed over his driver’s licence.
Shelrud noted that Goldring’s car had a “strong smell” of alcohol and referred to the MP as “belligerent” during a radio call to his supervisor.
Goldring told the officer he was wary of breathalyzers because he didn’t know how they worked. The politician didn’t verbally refuse to provide a breath sample, the officer said, just ignored repeated demands for him to do so.
His lawyer will argue that Goldring’s charter rights were breached after he was pulled over, court heard.
There was nothing in Goldring’s driving pattern that led to him being pulled over, Shelrud said. The constable was on patrol as part of a proactive EPS program to catch impaired drivers by patrolling areas around bars late at night.
If convicted, Goldring faces a minimum $1,000 fine, up to five years in prison and a driving prohibition.
In 2009, Goldring opposed a proposal to allow police to screen all drivers with breathalyzer tests, whether or not officers suspected they had been drinking.
“It is safe to say everyone is opposed to drunk driving, but there are civil liberty issues involved,” Goldring wrote on his website at the time. “There is the presumption of innocence and the right to not self-incriminate.”
Goldring was elected as a Conservative but has sat as an independent since shortly after he was charged.
The trial continues Friday.
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