Two-time drunk driver jailed
Morgan Bailey Murray, 23, of Waasis, refused cop’s demand for roadside breath test, leading court to impose mandatory jail term for second offence
A Waasis woman showing signs of impairment at the wheel last year was adamant with a police officer she wasn’t drunk and refused to give a breath sample - and that has landed her in jail.
Morgan Bailey Murray, 23, of Panther Pass in Waasis, was scheduled to stand trial in Fredericton provincial court Wednesday on charges of refusing a breath demand and driving while suspended.
However, she instead decided to change her plea to guilty on the refusal offence.
Crown prosecutor Rodney Jordan told court Wednesday that at about 2:20 a.m. on April 2, 2022, a Fredericton police officer clocked a car doing 88 kilometres per hour in a 50 km/hour zone on Riverside Drive and pulled the vehicle over.
Murray was at the wheel, he said, and there were two male passengers in the car as well.
The officer immediately detected a strong smell of alcohol coming from the driver, court heard, and Murray also had slurred speech and offered slow responses to inquiries.
“It appeared the male front passenger was working hard to cover for Ms. Murray’s intoxication,” Jordan said.
The officer asked Murray to provide a breath sample for a roadside screening device, he said, but she refused.
“She was adamant she was not drunk,” the prosecutor said.
The officer told her the issue wasn’t whether she was drunk but rather about the presence of alcohol in her system and at what level, Jordan said.
Murray still wouldn’t blow into the screening device and was arrested for refusing a breath demand, court heard, and she was transported to the city police station on Queen Street.
“Eventually, she was held for a period of time due to her intoxication,” Jordan said.
Murray has a recent prior conviction for impaired driving, he said, and that means she’s facing a mandatory minimum jail term as prescribed by the Criminal Code of Canada - namely, 30 days in jail.
Defence lawyer T.J. Burke said Murray is gainfully employed but she was aware of her impending jail sentence.
He said she’s seeking to serve straight jail time rather than asking the court to allow her to serve her sentence intermittently on weekends.
“Fortunately, she’s been able to take some time off work,” the defence lawyer said.
“It’s going to be a deterrent for her.”
Judge Lucie Mathurin imposed the required 30-day stint in jail, to be followed by a two-year prohibition against driving anywhere in Canada.
After sentencing, Jordan withdrew the Motor Vehicle Act charge for driving while suspended.
The Fredericton Police Force released statistics this week indicating impaired driving is a growing problem in the capital.
The numbers, along with an incident occurrence map, showed the force laid 103 charges in relation to impaired-driving offences between Jan. 1 and June 20 this year.
It reported the number of charges for the same period in 2022 was only 85, representing an increase of about 25 per cent in 2023.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
In one line they say intoxicated driving is a real issue in the city, then they mention they dropped the driving while suspended..... why lol more reason for them to do it..... pin them to the wall 0 excuses.