A judge cleared Linda O’Leary of the non-criminal charge of careless operation of a boat in a 2019 collision that killed two people in a rural lake known as a playground for the rich and famous.
Following a high-profile trial this summer in Parry Sound, Ontario, Judge Richard Humphrey found Tuesday that the Crown was unable to establish that she was operating her boat in a careless manner. O’Leary is married to television celebrity and businessman Kevin O’Leary, who was with her at the time of the August 24, 2019, nightly accident at Lake Joseph.
Linda O’Leary was charged under the Canadian Shipping Act. She had faced a fine of up to $ 10,000.
Reading his decision Tuesday morning, Humphrey said he found that “alcohol played no role” in O’Leary’s operation of his ship, nor was he able to determine how fast the ship was traveling, “much less that it was excessive. “.
The collision occurred around 11:30 p.m. when the O’Learys returned to their cabin after attending a dinner less than three miles away. Linda O’Leary was behind the wheel of the family’s ski boat when it collided with a Super Air Nautique, a large ship that had been stopped so passengers could look at the stars.
A key question at trial, and in a series of civil lawsuits, is whether that ship had its navigation lights turned off. Humphrey concluded that the Nautique’s lights were, in fact, not on.
Defense attorney Brian Greenspan argued that his client had been the subject of a “wrong trial” and that the evidence overwhelmingly showed that the Nautique did not have the lights on as required. The Nautique’s operator had previously pleaded guilty to failing to display a navigation light.
Linda O’Leary did not testify. Her husband testified from Los Angeles, where he is a regular on the popular TV show Shark Tank. He was not in court on Tuesday, but could be seen calling the procedure via zoom.
In his closing arguments, prosecutors argued that his testimony, in which he described the trip home “by plane” in the dark, amounted to a “confession” that his wife had been carelessly piloting the ship.
Prosecutors alleged that O’Leary violated the Maritime Transportation Act by piloting the vessel at excessive speed on a dark night without regard to “what may or may not be in front of you.” Even if the Nautique’s lights were off at the time of the collision, O’Leary’s driving behavior was still sloppy, Crown attorney Samir Adam told the judge. His decision on Tuesday clearly repudiated this position.
Gary Poltash, 64, of Florida, died at the scene, while Suzanne Brito, 48, of Uxbridgde, Ontario, died a few days later.
There are several pending civil lawsuits related to the accident.
Federal prosecutors initially said O’Leary could face a $ 1 million fine and 18 months in jail if convicted. Greenspan said prosecutors were wrong from the start about the possible penalty.
After a careful review of the Act, the Crown determined that the initial position of the Public Ministry of Canada on the maximum penalties allowed was not precise, a PPSC spokeswoman wrote in an email.
Reference-www.thestar.com