Appeal judge convicts Yukon man in hands-free cellphone case

A Yukon appeal judge has convicted a man of using a cellphone while driving, overturning an initial ruling that because it waswedged between his shoulder and his ear it met the definition ofa hands-free electronic device.

Territorial court Judge Don Luther decided in January that Ian Pumphrey did not violate Yukon's laws governing the use of electronic devices while driving because Pumphrey'scellphonewas wedged between his shoulder and his ear, on speaker phone, and there was nothing in the legislation defining the term "hands-free."

He saidthat while the intent of the law was clear, it wasnot up to the courts to fill in gaps that could easily be filled by government regulations.

The Crown appealed that ruling.

In his decision,Yukon Supreme Court Justice Leigh Gower ruled that interpreting the law is one of the court's duties and the trial judge had made an error when he refused to do so.

He then ruled that, in his interpretation, hands-free means "use without being held by the operator in any fashion" andfound Pumphrey guilty of the offence.

In his decision, he wrote he wanted to grant Pumphrey an absolute discharge, given the time he had spent in court and preparing his own arguments as he had represented himself, but did not have the jurisdiction.

Instead he imposed a suspended sentence and one day of probation.