Fate of man charged in chase left to judge

Donald Brodie confessed to driving car that struck newspaper carrier while fleeing police, but then withdrew his confession

A B.C. Supreme Court judge must now decide whether Donald Brodie was behind the wheel during a police chase through Kelowna that left another man seriously injured in 2013.

Brodie is charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, flight causing bodily harm and three counts of wilfully resisting or obstructing a police officer.

Police say he sped away from an RCMP road check on Springfield Road and led Mounties on a chase through Rutland after midnight in December 2013.

The car drove off the road and slammed into Steve Kania as he delivered newspapers at Dundas and Dundee roads.

Kania, 42, lay in a coma for more than a week. He suffered a serious brain injury and spinal fractures.

“There is no doubt there was flight from police, there’s no doubt that the driving was criminally negligent, there’s no doubt that harm was caused to Mr. Kania as a result of that,” said defence lawyer John Gustafson during his closing submissions Wednesday morning.

However, he argued Brodie was not the driver of the vehicle and should be acquitted of all charges.

Nathan Fahl was originally charged with the offences, but charges against him were dropped after Brodie sent multiple letters to police and the media confessing he was the driver in 2013 and 2014.

In court, Brodie said the letters were an attempt to deflect blame away from Fahl, but said under oath he was not the driver of the vehicle.

“(Brodie) seems to have an unusual, but nevertheless well-defined, sense of honour,” said Gustafson, referencing a gangster code Brodie claims to follow.

“Under ordinary circumstances, if a person makes a confession or a statement contrary to their personal interests, the natural common assumption is that it’s likely to be true,” said Gustafson. “But Mr. Brodie shows he has somewhat of a different set of values. He’s more than willing to take risks for friends and doesn’t seem to have that same fear of the legal consequences.

“Other than Mr. Brodie’s words, there is little if any evidence as to the identity of the driver.”

Crown prosecutor David Grabavac said it made no sense for Brodie to admit he was the driver unless he actually was the driver of the suspect vehicle.

“He would be opening himself up to significant legal consequences,” he said during his closing submissions.

Brodie wrote a number of letters after he was charged in this case and after charges against Fahl were dropped, said Grabavac.

“At that point, there was no reason to write those letters,” he said. “There’s no way (it) would in any way help Mr. Fahl get out of jail, because he was already out of jail not facing any charges.”

Justice Martha Devlin is expected to deliver her decision on Friday.