RCMP member on trial
An RCMP officer charged with refusing the breathalyser and impaired driving will be back in court in October as his trial continues.
The trial of Cpl. Scott Frederick MacMillan, 48, of Kentville, got underway on Sept. 20. A voir dire, essentially a trial within a trial, was held on the issue of voluntariness before the matters were adjourned to Oct. 26.
MacMillan’s defence lawyer, Chris Manning, had entered not guilty pleas to the two charges on MacMillan’s behalf in February.
According to a news release issued by the RCMP in January, a member of the Kings District RCMP initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle on Highway 101 in Auburn on Dec. 24, 2016. The driver was MacMillan, an off-duty member of the RCMP.
MacMillan, a member of the RCMP Southwest Nova Major Crimes Unit, was released from custody on Dec. 24. On Jan. 4, he was charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol and failing without reasonable excuse to comply with a demand made to him by a police officer to provide samples of his breath for analysis to determine the concentration, if any, of alcohol in his blood.
MacMillan, who has 26 years of service, was placed on administrative leave and the RCMP initiated an internal Code of Conduct investigation in relation to MacMillan’s conduct in January.
Charges against MacMillan have not been proven in court.
Breathalyser offence
Daniel John Auld, 43, of North Kentville, has been fined for operating a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol level exceeded the legal limit.
Auld pleaded guilty to the charge on Sept. 26. Judge Ronda Van Der Hoek fined Auld a total of $1,950 and imposed a one-year driving prohibition against him.
Auld committed the offence in Centreville on June 17. The legal blood alcohol limit is 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. Auld gave breathalyser readings of 150 and 150.
Conditional discharge for break, enter and mischief
Steven James Wilcox, 49, of Grand Prairie, Alberta, formerly of Ellershouse, has been handed a conditional discharge with probation for breaking and entering a shed and committing mischief therein.
In March 2016, Wilcox pleaded not guilty to this charge, to a charge of committing mischief by damaging a barbecue, having care or control of a motor vehicle while his ability to operate was impaired by alcohol and having care or control of a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol level exceeded the legal limit.
The matters were adjourned to April 25, 2017, for trial. The charge of having care or control of a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol level exceeded the legal limit was dismissed with the Crown offering no evidence. Wilcox was found not guilty and acquitted of having care or control of a motor vehicle while his ability to operate was impaired by alcohol. The charge of break, enter and mischief and the other mischief charge were adjourned to May 24 for a decision. Wilcox was found guilty of both offences. The matters were adjourned to Sept. 28 for sentencing.
Judge Claudine MacDonald handed Wilcox a conditional discharge with six months of non-reporting probation on the break, enter and mischief charge. He was fined $100 in victim surcharges. The Crown stayed the other mischief charge.
Wilcox committed the offences in Brooklyn on Jan. 4, 2016.
