An RCMP officer who allegedly drove his SUV into a median and wound up in a ditch had a blood alcohol content of .128, according to a toxicology analyst who testified during a trial in North Vancouver provincial court Friday.
Sgt. Victor Cunha is facing charges of both impaired and dangerous driving in connection with the incident.
Shortly before midnight on Nov. 30, 2012, Cunha was driving at nearly 90 km/h when his SUV hopped onto the Highway 1 barrier and lost a wheel before settling in a steep gully in West Vancouver, according to witness Brendan Grills.
Cunha's defence may hinge on the admissibility of blood samples taken later that night at Lions Gate Hospital.
After Cunha rebuffed both a nurse and a lab tech, Dr. Andrew Stager was left to reluctantly wield the needle, according to the emergency room doctor.
Stager warned Cunha he didn't ordinarily draw blood but Cunha, who the doctor described as "upset" and "intimidating," insisted, according to Stager.
Stager drew one good blood sample and a second that seemed insufficient, according to his testimony.
After his blood was drawn, Cunha wished the arresting officers good luck in getting the sample admitted in court, according to West Vancouver Police Department Const. Matt Plant.
In court, Cunha's defence lawyer Michael Klein has questioned the use of an expired vial to collect the sample of Cunha's blood, which was eventually used in the toxicology analysis.
The expiration date referred to the manufacturer's warranty and was not indicative of the veracity of the sample, according to Jacqueline Mack, the forensic toxicology analyst who examined the sample.
"There was nothing physically wrong with the tube," Mack said.
In conducting tests on blood from 2,000 similar vials over her career, Mack said she'd never had concerns about the accuracy of a sample - with the exception of one shattered vial.
Mack found Cunha's blood alcohol content to be .128, but it could have been much higher when he was behind the wheel, according to forensic alcohol specialist Brian Image, who also testified at the trial.
While driving, Cunha's blood alcohol content could have been between .147 and .165 - twice the legal limit of .08 - according to Image, who applied a formula based on how quickly alcohol is absorbed and subsequently dissipated.
Klein asked if some impaired drivers might be more skillful behind the wheel than bad drivers. Image allowed that was possible, but added that any impaired driver would be safer when sober.
Cunha was "dead set" on fleeing the scene, according to Grills, who described the engine revving and the SUV's three wheels spinning in the ditch following the crash.
Cunha was emotionally distraught and determined to harm himself, according to Plant. After announcing himself as an off-duty officer, Cunha said, "'I tried to kill myself. My wife cheated on me,'" said Plant.
Cunha is the head of the RCMP's Lower Mainland explosives disposal unit. He is currently on administrative leave. The trial's closing arguments will be heard next month.
