Embattled MLA Fildebrandt denies he was involved in hit-and-run
Ex-Wildroser says he would have been in a meeting when the collision occurred
MLA Derek Fildebrandt appeared in traffic court Wednesday after a former neighbour accused him of a hit-and-run that damaged her van in June 2016.
In court, the Strathmore-Brooks MLA denied having anything to do with the collision, saying he was likely in an early morning meeting at the Federal Building. On an average day at the time, Fildebrandt said he would have been present at the “agenda and priorities meeting ” by 7:30 a.m. while working for the Wildrose Party.
His lawyer, Dale Fedorchuck, didn’t introduce any evidence to confirm his client was in a meeting when the collision occurred around 7:45 a.m., June 6, on 110 Street.
Police charged Fildebrandt under the Alberta Traffic Safety Act for leaving the scene and failing to notify the owner of a damaged vehicle.
The court case is the latest in a string of controversies for Fildebrandt, who left the United Conservative Party caucus in August to sit as an independent after it was revealed he had rented out his taxpayer-funded apartment on Airbnb and double-dipped on meals.
“I was very satisfied with Mr. Fildebrandt’s evidence,” Fedorchuck told reporters outside court Wednesday. “Everything he said was the basis for our defence.”
But provincial prosecutor Lorna Mackie said the neighbour, who wasn’t in court, had an unobstructed view of Fildebrandt’s red Ford F-150 Lariat pickup backing into her van and driving away, and that she recognized him as the driver.
The neighbour, Amy Rawlinson, then took down Fildebrandt’s licence plate the following day when she saw the truck again, Mackie said. “She was quite certain it was him on both occasions,” she added.
Fildebrandt testified his truck — which he traded in about a month after the alleged collision — had a rear-view camera and sensors that would prevent a crash.
He suggested if he were involved, he would have notified the owner.
“I would have stopped, got out and looked. I would have left a note ... under the windshield,” he said. “It’s the decent thing to do.”
Fildebrandt, who declined to comment Wednesday, represented himself when the trial launched in February.
Fedorchuck said the move put Fildebrandt at a disadvantage because he didn’t object to certain evidence presented by the prosecutor.
“I do not fault Mr. Fildebrandt for this, he is not a lawyer,” he told the court.
On Wednesday, Fedorchuck applied for a mistrial, but Fildebrandt later told him to withdraw the application after the presiding commissioner said it would take until November to make a decision.
Commissioner Stewart Douglas is reviewing the evidence and plans to issue his decision Dec. 18.