Language at the heart of drinking and driving trial on P.E.I.

The lawyer for a French-speaking man on trial for drinking and driving says his client should be acquitted because he didn't understand his Charter rights when they were read to him in English.

Cyusa Dylan Werabe, 19, was arrested in Charlottetown in the early morning hours of March 10 after failing a breathalyzer test.

But Werabe's lawyer, Derek Bondt, said his client tried to speak to the arresting officer in French. He said Werabe did not understand his Charter rights, including the right to consult a lawyer, because the arresting officer spoke to him only in English.

"An interpreter should have been engaged at that point, however that wasn't provided to the client," Bondt said in an interview with CBC.

Evidence 'should be excluded'

"Our argument was that because he didn't fully understand his Charter rights at the time of his arrest, and evidence taken thereafter should be excluded before the court, or in the alternative that the charge be dropped because the gravity of the breach is such that it warrants it."

An interpreter should have been engaged Derek Bondt, defence lawyer

At the time of his arrest, Werabe, who is from Rwanda, was enrolled at UPEI in an intensive English program for students who do not meet the language requirements of the institution, but who have a conditional admission to a program of study.

The arresting officer, Charlottetown Police Const. Stephen Manning, testified he heard Werabe speak English to the passenger in Werabe's car. Manning said at no point did he feel it necessary to seek an interpreter.

Officer heard accused speak English

Cpl. William Almon, who was present during the roadside breathalyzer test on the night of the arrest, testified he believes Werabe understood his rights when they were presented to him in English.

Another officer, Const. Brodie Bowness, testified he had a conversation in English with Werabe later that morning during another blood-alcohol test at the police station. He said Werabe spoke in English about his studies and his passion for basketball.

Werabe did not testify in his own defence, but his passenger, Cedric Bwanakweli, testified that on the night ofhis arrest, Werabe told Manning repeatedly that he did not speak English, and that no English was spoken in the car.

Werabe's trial was held in French, a rarity at the P.E.I. Provincial Court. Since there is no provincial court judge on P.E.I. able to hear a case in French, a judge from New Brunswick was brought in to preside over the trial.

He is expected to deliver his verdict on Oct. 18.

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With files from Franois Pierre Dufault and Jessica Doria-Brown