Former Leafs captain Rick Vaive found not guilty of impaired driving
Posted April 12, 2012 9:22 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive has been found not guilty of impaired driving in a Newmarket court.
York police arrested Vaive in July 2009 after he was spotted driving erratically near Highways 407 and 427 on his way home from a golf tournament in Gravenhurst, Ont.
He was also found not guilty of driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
“It was the correct verdict, the judge found him not guilty of drunk driving basically,” said Vaive’s lawyer, Calvin Barry. “Rick is very happy. It takes a lot of pressure off his shoulders. He was very, very upset throughout this whole ordeal.”
“He’s a lovable nice fellow and this is probably the best day he’s had in years.”
When he was pulled over, Vaive initially told police he had consumed one beer, but later admitted that he’d had about six.
During his trial in Newmarket, the court heard testimony claiming Vaive failed a breathalyzer and that his blood alcohol was more than two times the legal limit.
“The machine is not always correct, but the point is you look at all the evidence,” Barry stressed.
Video of Vaive’s arrest was played in court in August. It shows the disheveled former hockey star entering the breathalyzer room wearing flip flops, a white golf shirt, and apparently, urine stained shorts.
“He was a tired fellow that was playing golf with a bunch of ex-NHL hockey players, it was a hot day, he was wearing flip flops and it is what it is, the judge heard everything,” Barry said. “The police put their best foot forward and he was acquitted because he should have been.”
“To simplify it…he did have something to drink but he wasn’t drunk.”
Vaive played for the Leafs in the 1980s and was the first Leaf to score 50 goals in a season.
