Impaired driving charges against St. John's lawyer Brian Wentzell were dismissed this morning in provincial court in St. John’s.
Wentzell, 46, had been charged with impaired driving and failing the breathalyzer but the case was dismissed, according to the Crown, because of a lack of evidence that Wentzell had been behind the wheel of a vehicle at the time of his arrest.
The charges were laid Nov. 30 after RNC officers went to Wentzell's home. Wentzell had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Wentzell has worked on some high-profile cases. Most recently, he was a member of the defence team for Ray Newman, who was recently acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife, Chrissy Predham-Newman.
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I am surprised at the various comments that glibly suggest misconduct or favourtism by the police or Crown, when in fact there is absolutely no basis for that. Brian Wentzell is entitled to the same presumption of innocence and protection under the law as every one of us (including our anonymous commentators) .Here, Crown councel concluded there was no reasonable chance of conviction and properly dismissed the charges.That is the public duty entrusted to them. The system worked,full stop.