Prosecutor Todd Norman conceded Monday that Burlington OPP made a mistake on the afternoon in question.

"A right thinking person would expect more of the police and they would consider police ultimately failed to abide by the provisions of the criminal code," Norman said.

But he added police were dealing with a "crisis" at the time and the real possibility that the crash could collapse the entire bridge and the hundreds of gridlocked vehicles stuck on the south side of the Toronto-bound lanes after the 3:35 p.m. accident.

"The context of this was a much more dramatic crime scene than normally encountered by police," Norman said, adding he believed excluding the breath readings would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

Campling took pains to praise the conduct of the Burlington OPP and other police officers in the hours after the bridge crash.

"I will say the overall conduct of the OPP that I have heard so far in this trial in dealing with your truck crashing into the Skyway Bridge is amazingly good," he told Rai.

The judge said he believed the OPP officers who have testified, namely Det. Bruce Powell, Constables Andrew Halliday and Hermano Clerigo and Burlington detachment commander Insp. Douglas Fenske, were professional and honest.

Halliday testified he only considered a test at 7:10 p.m. when he detected an odour of alcohol coming from the back of his cruiser where Rai was sitting. Unable to locate a roadside screening device, he made the two-minute drive to the detachment to have Rai complete the test in the detachment parking lot just after 7:30 p.m. Clerigo subsequently administered the breathalyzer tests which resulted in the high readings.

Campling said he believed Halliday and Clerigo made a mistake by not conducting the breath tests within the three-hour window.

"Nobody is perfect. They were dealing with a totally different situation from what they were used to."

Halliday told court he was a "glorified babysitter" as he sat with Rai in his cruiser for hours after the crash.

The trial continues Tuesday.

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