MANDEL: Brady Robertson guilty of drunk driving in fatal accident, but depends on Charter’s challenge

Article content

Brady Robertson has been convicted of drugged driving in the horrific collision last year that killed a Caledon mother and her three daughters, but those convictions could be overturned if he succeeds in repealing the law.

Article content

And there’s a lot more at stake: If a Brampton judge finds that current disability law violates the Charter, that precedent-setting decision could stand in the way of prosecuting future drug-driving cases.

At the beginning of his trial in July, Robertson, 21, pleaded guilty to four counts of dangerous driving that resulted in the deaths of teacher Karolina Ciasullo, 36, and her daughters Klara, 6, Lilianna, 3, and Mila, 1, after her car sped up. struck the family’s Volkswagen Atlas when it ran a red light on Torbram Rd. on June 18, 2020.

But he pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated causing his death, despite having eight times the legal limit for THC in the blood, the main intoxicating ingredient in cannabis. In a constitutional challenge, defense attorney Craig Bottomley argues that the science is new and experts agree that the current legal limit set at 5 ng / ml is arbitrary, with no established correlation to impairment.

Article content

As the Charter case continues before Ontario Superior Court Judge Sandra Caponecchia, she rendered her ruling on the four charges Robertson faces for driving while intoxicated and causing death.

“My overall assessment is that Mr. Robertson’s ability to operate a motor vehicle was likely and most likely impaired by drugs on June 18, 2020. However, such a conclusion is not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.” Caponecchia said in his decision.

She convicted him, but on the basis that he exceeded the legal limit and not because of the section of the law that determines that “the person’s ability to operate is affected to some degree” by the drugs.

But those convictions, he said, “are subject to the outcome of constitutional challenge.”

The defense has argued that studies show that there is no exact limit on drugs as on alcohol for determining whether a driver is drunk.

Article content

Even the Crown witness, Forensic Science Center toxicologist Betty Chow, agreed that there are too many variables: how the cannabis was ingested, how long before driving, was the person new to the drug, making it impossible determine if a driver was disabled. only at a THC blood level.

He explained that unlike alcohol, which has been studied for decades, there is no consensus on the more complicated THC. “I’ve seen studies where THC levels are close to zero and the individual is affected and I’ve seen studies where THC levels are above five and they are not affected,” Chow testified.

“I would say that the way we use the blood concentration should not be used to determine impairment.”

Robertson was rushed to Brampton Civic Hospital, where a blood test taken 45 minutes after the fiery accident found 40 ng / ml of THC in his system, as well as 21 ng / ml of the illegal sedative flubromazolan.

Article content

His attorneys lost an earlier Charter challenge to have that evidence excluded due to allegations that the Peel Regional Police violated his rights to protection against illegal searches and seizures.

In his decision on drunk driving, Caponecchia discovered that just before the accident, Robertson was trying to outrun an officer who had tried to stop him because a front license plate was missing.

He said there were many reasons to explain Robertson’s “poor driving”: He was in a newly purchased blue Infiniti that he had not registered, had a sachet of four pills, one of which tested positive for fentanyl, in his glove compartment. and had been involved in a default accident two days earlier, for which she found him guilty of dangerous driving.

“Unexplained aberrant driving can be a strong indicator of disability,” the judge noted. “This, however, is not a case of inexplicable bad driving. There is evidence that the police were following Mr. Robertson when he was traveling at excessive speed. “

When the two lanes ahead of him caused the cars to stop at a red light, Robertson circled around them and pulled into the road of Ciasullo and his daughters entering the intersection on a green.

And no amount of legal gymnastics will bring them back.

The case resumes on Wednesday.

[email protected]