MP Goldring demands police records leading to his arrest

Edmonton MP Peter Goldringtried to "negotiate his way out of it" when he was pulled overin December 2011,an Edmonton police officer testified in court on Friday.

Const. Trevor Shelrudtold a pre-trial hearing in Edmontonthat Goldring had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath and was belligerent at the time. He said that he had no idea who the MP was when he pulled him over.

Goldring is asking for police cellphone records and radio communications by the officers involved inhis arrest for failing to provide a breath sample.

Lawyer Dino Bottos wants recordsfrom up to one hour before his client was stopped on Dec. 4, 2011 after attending a political fundraiser.

"Sometimes that can reveal what the police have said or thought at the time and that can be germane to determining whether there were sufficient grounds to make a demand or obtaining advice from other senior officers," Bottos said.

The Crown insisted Friday that the investigation started only when Goldring's car was stoppedand that therecords prior to the arrest are irrelevant.

Goldring watched the proceedings of the pre-trial motion from the gallery. He declined to comment on theofficer's testimony.

"All of this will be coming out in court," Goldring said outside the courthouse. "Suffice to say, our lawyer here, has been very, very thorough on viewing all aspects of this and the trial date itself will be where those comments will be discussed."

Thetrial is scheduled for January.

Goldring, who maintains he had only one beer that night, resigned from the federal Conservative caucus as a result of the charge, butcontinues to representEdmonton East as an Member of Parliament.