Driver was passed out at pumps, court hears
Jonathan Edward Feeney, 51, of Woodstock, was found unconscious at wheel, under influence of drugs, leading to fine Monday and 15-month driving prohibition
A Woodstock man was busted for drugged driving after he and his two passengers were found passed out in a car at a gas station in downtown Fredericton earlier this year.
Jonathan Edward Feeney, 51, of Mountain Road in Woodstock, previously pleaded not guilty to a count of driving while impaired by a drug and was back in Fredericton provincial court Monday to schedule a trial date.
However, he told Judge Anne Dugas-Horsman he wanted to admit to the offence instead - though he seemed to do so reluctantly.
“I’ll just change my plea to guilty,” he said. “I can’t afford a lawyer.”
Feeney declined to speak with duty counsel to get legal advice ahead of his change of plea. “I had a prescription for morphine. I forgot to tell them that,” he said Monday.
Dugas-Horsman told him she wasn’t looking for explanations and asked him again if he wanted to plead guilty.
“Yeah, whatever,” Feeney said.
“I don’t need a whatever,” the judge said.
Feeney reiterated his wish to plead guilty.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Butler said Fredericton police officers responded to the Irving station on King Street on Feb. 23 after receiving a report of an impaired driver.
She said officers were met by two witnesses who directed them to a Toyota Corolla at the pumps.
Feeney was at the wheel, court heard, and there were two passengers in the back seat.
“All parties were unconscious,” the prosecutor said, noting that officers noticed drug paraphernalia throughout the vehicle, including a drug pipe.
The investigation revealed station staff and bystanders took note of the situation, she said, and someone had removed the keys from the ignition before police arrived.
When officers woke Feeney, Butler said, he was slurring his words and exhibiting other signs of intoxication.
He was given the drug-recognition examination demand, court heard, and it was determined he was impaired by a drug.
Feeney admitted to those facts as relayed by the Crown.
“I recollect all of it,” he said.
He reiterated his assertion that he had a prescription for morphine due to injuries sustained in an accident but acknowledged that doesn’t mean he should’ve been driving.
“I should’ve stayed home,” Feeney said. “This is my first impaired … I regret going on the road that day.”
Butler filed a prior criminal history with the court but agreed there were no previous convictions for impaired driving. She noted there were past entries for flight from police and dangerous driving.
Judge Anne Dugas-Horsman imposed the mandatory minimum fine of $1,000 plus a $300 victim-fine surcharge.
She also prohibited Feeney from driving for 15 months anywhere in Canada.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.