Setting new trial date for ex-NHLer accused of impaired driving delayed amid appeal

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A former NHL player accused of impaired driving in Moncton will return to court to set a date in November for new trial in the case, pending the outcome of an appeal over whether that trial should happen.

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau was not present in Moncton provincial court on Friday, but his lawyer Guillaume LeBlanc appeared before Judge Paul Duffie on his behalf.

The appearance was to set a trial date, but an ongoing appeal of a decision from last July to order the new trial is stalling the case from moving forward.

Parenteau, of Dieppe, was charged in 2020 with having a blood-alcohol concentration equal to or exceeding the legal limit of .08, within two hours after ceasing to operate a motor vehicle on March 3, at or near Riverview, shortly before 11 p.m.

He had stood trial in provincial court on June 23, 2022, when court heard an officer testify he observed a vehicle failing to stop at a stop sign, and the driver make a sudden and abrupt swerve to the shoulder when he pulled him over.

The Mountie said he could smell a strong odour of alcohol from the vehicle and he asked Parenteau if he had consumed alcohol and the driver said he had not.

The officer said Parenteau failed a breath sample and was arrested, and at the detachment later, he blew .100 on the breathalyser.

The Crown had intended to call the technician who administered the breathalyser that night, but never got the chance because the charge was dismissed by the trial judge, who raised an issue following the officer’s testimony, saying he didn’t believe he specified that he used an approved roadside screening device to obtain the failed breath test. Since it was that test failure that led to the use of the breathalyser at the police station for the blood-alcohol reading, the charge was dismissed and the accused acquitted.

The Crown appealed on several grounds, which was heard on May 29, and Court of King’s Bench Justice Robert Dysart sided with the Crown in his July 10 decision, ordering a new trial. He wrote in his ruling the judge’s well-intentioned decision to rule on the use of an approved screening device was done prematurely, before the Crown had closed its case, and that the ruling’s prematurity resulted in a “miscarriage of justice.”

LeBlanc said on Friday that Dysart’s decision was being appealed, and the outcome of the appeal would impact if there would be a new trial.

Pending the outcome of the appeal, Parenteau will return to court on Nov. 15 to set a new trial date.

Parenteau played for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators between 2006-2017. He also played 45 games for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2000-01.

-With files from Craig Babstock