Good Samaritan Green’s family sues
Man killed while helping change tire
The family of a Good Samaritan struck and killed while helping a fellow motorist has launched a $1-million lawsuit against the man they believe was driving.
Andrew Green, 46, died June 13, 2012, after pulling over to help a fellow driver change a tire on Anthony Henday Drive. Green was placing traffic cones when he was hit.
On Thursday, 37-year-old Kieran Porter was acquitted on charges of hit-and-run and careless driving, after a judge ruled key evidence inadmissible because police investigators violated his rights.
Green’s siblings, parents and daughter are suing Porter for negligence.
None of the allegations has been proven in court. The lawsuit claims Porter was inattentive while driving, travelling too fast for road conditions and driving “while his ability to do so was impaired or otherwise affected by alcohol, drugs, or fatigue.”
The lawsuit alleges Porter was searching the floor of his car for a dropped cigarette at the time.
The Green family is suing for costs associated with his funeral and grief counselling, as well as the future educational expenses of his daughter.
The Thursday decision by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley to exclude evidence left prosecutors with no evidence that Porter was the driver, despite testimony that he’d twice admitted he was behind the wheel.
Shelley acquitted Porter after she decided that evidence collected by Edmonton police during a search of Porter’s Porsche and his later statements to his insurance company were inadmissible.
Porter and a lawyer visited police headquarters the day after Green was killed to fill out a report, mandatory under the Traffic Safety Act. At the time, the lawyer told police Porter was the driver.
Police then misused that report during their investigation, Shelley found, by using it to obtain a search warrant for the Porsche and a production order for statements Porter made to his insurance company.
In a statement to his insurance company, Porter said he had hit something, but was “not sure exactly what.”