Trans-Canada wrong-way driver found guilty
Cypress County man to be sentenced Aug. 8
A Cypress County man was found guilty Tuesday on all charges stemming from driving while drunk down the wrong way of the TransCanada Highway in 2015, and causing a head-on collision that severely injured multiple people.
Following a trial that began in November and wrapped up in March, Judge Eric Brooks ruled that 57-year-old Curtis Beisel is guilty of four counts each of impaired driving causing bodily harm, driving with a blood alcohol level exceeding .08 causing bodily harm, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Sentencing was adjourned to Aug. 8, with a pre-sentencing report requested by defence counsel.
In his decision, Brooks found that Beisel drove at least 1.06 kilometres for 30 to 40 seconds the wrong way down the Trans-Canada on the evening of Dec. 17, 2015. He missed several signs that indicated he was going the wrong direction, and continued to drive despite an oncoming vehicle honking at him as a warning.
Brooks accepted testimony from the RCMP toxicology expert that Beisel’s blood-alcohol level was 173 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood — which is well above the legal limit. As well, Brooks rejected the defence’s arguments that the expert’s method for calculating this were flawed.
The judge found there was no evidence to support bolus drinking — when a large quantity of alcohol is consumed in a short amount of time — and that evening Beisel had a “normal drinking pattern.”
Brooks also found that Beisel’s behaviour and comments following the collision that the arresting RCMP officer testified to showed that the accused was not even aware he had been driving the wrong way.
The collision sent multiple people to hospital, including a seven-day-old infant who was in the truck Beisel’s vehicle struck.
The child suffered a broken femur and was flown to Calgary for treatment. Testimony during trial heard that the infant’s mother suffered from scarring, and broken fingers and a bone on her wrist that required a full cast — meaning she had difficulty even holding her newborn following the collision. The infant’s aunt had a snapped right ankle where the bone was sticking out and required surgery, plates and screws.
Also seriously injured was the passenger in Beisel’s car, a young man who testified to having a shattered knee, a “busted” femur which now has a titanium rod in it, and having to have the tendons of one hand pinned back together. Almost two years later his injuries remain “excruciatingly painful,” the court heard.
As is regular court practice, a judicial stay was issued on the impaired charges, meaning Beisel will be sentenced only on the exceeding .08 and dangerous driving charges.