O'Neill v Ministry of Transport - [1985] 2 NZLR 513

Transport and transport licensing — Driving with excess blood alcohol — Mens rea — Onus of proof — Before driving, defendant consumed cough mixture and two glasses of wine — Cough mixture bottle had of it a warning that it contained alcohol — There was uncontradicted evidence that the wine alone would not have produced a blood alcohol level in excess of the statutory maximum — Whether defendant must prove absence of mens rea — Whether absence of mens rea had been proved — Transport Act 1962, s 58(1)(b), as enacted in 1978.