A court decision in a case of an RCMP officer accused of impaired driving may come down to the blood samples taken after a crash that left the Mountie's SUV wedged in a ditch.
Sgt. Victor Cunha careened into a median and ended up in a steep gully near the Caulfeild exit on Highway 1, later trying to flee the scene despite having lost a wheel, according to a witness.
The officer is charged with reckless and impaired driving stemming from the Nov. 30, 2012 incident. His trial before Judge Steven Merrick continued in North Vancouver provincial court this week.
Cunha was emotionally distraught and determined to harm himself, according to West Vancouver Police Department Const. Matt Plant, who was the first officer on the scene of the crash.
After announcing himself as an off-duty officer, Cunha said, "I tried to kill myself.
My wife cheated on me," said Plant, who testified Thursday.
Cunha was taken to Lions Gate Hospital where police asked a technician to draw a sample of the officer's blood. The technician refused, Plant said.
A nurse volunteered to draw blood but Cunha turned combative, according to Const. Arman Sardari, a second West Vancouver police officer who also testified in the trial.
"He started yelling about (the nurse) not being an actual nurse," Sardari said.
Cunha said the nurse could've been off the street and carrying bloodborne diseases, according to Sardari. Cunha then demanded to see the nurse's credentials, which she did not produce, said Sardari.
Cunha later pulled away from the needle, "hindering my investigation," said Sardari.
Cunha relented when a doctor showed Cunha his driver's licence and licence to practice medicine, said Sardari. Cunha repeatedly flinched as the doctor looked for a vein, according to Plant.
Once the blood was drawn, one sample had to be discarded because of a problem with the vial. Since there were no more vials left in the RCMP blood kit, a hospital vial was used for the second sample.
Defence lawyer Michael Klein cross-examined Plant.
"Were you aware that the blood kit was expired?" he asked.
After Cunha's blood was drawn, Cunha wished him good luck in getting the blood sample admitted in court, said Plant.
Klein previously said he may argue against the admissibility of forensic samples.
Cunha was eventually strapped to his hospital bed after being assessed as a flight risk, said Plant.
Prior to the crash, Cunha was reeling from an argument he'd had with his wife earlier that evening, according to Cunha's brother-in-law, Andrew Hitchmaugh.
Hitchmaugh, who admitted to "mixed emotions" in testifying, had hosted Cunha and Cunha's wife at his home in Squamish that evening.
Cunha drank more than one glass of wine, said Hitchmaugh. However, he could not say how much more.
Hitchmaugh described Cunha as "a friend, a brother" who he'd known for 20 years.
The men had a confrontation when Cunha said he was leaving, according to Hitchmaugh.
Hitchmaugh said he smashed a wine glass on the ground and pushed Cunha.
"We were both crying," he recalled.
Out of concern for both Cunha's emotional state and his safety, Hitchmaugh said he didn't want Cunha to drive.
Cunha's heightened emotional state seemed like a sign of impairment, said Hitchmaugh, although he allowed that he may have projected his feelings onto Cunha.
When making the ambulance trip from the crash site to Lions Gate Hospital, Cunha became very talkative, according to Sardari.
Cunha said his wife had recently joined the RCMP where she was treated poorly and lured into a relationship with another officer, said Sardari.
"He was very unhappy with the RCMP," Sardari said. "They knew what was on and they did very little to move her."
Cunha is the head of the RCMP's Lower Mainland explosives disposal unit but is currently on administrative leave. The trial continues.
