Not guilty

Gregory Stuart Collicutt acquitted in dangerous driving causing death trial

Gregory Stuart Collicutt has been found not guilty on the charge of dangerous driving causing death.

The 12-member jury’s verdict was announced shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday. There were loud exhales from a small group of Collicutt’s supporters who were in the courtroom to hear the decision.

Once the jury was dismissed, Collicutt, a 27-year-old O’Leary resident, turned from his seat and gave his mom a long hug.

His lawyer, Peter Ghiz, said, given the evidence presented during the trial, the jury made the right call.

“I thought it was an appropriate decision. Const. Bouvier said he couldn’t eliminate an innocent cause. With that, the only reasonable verdict would be acquittal,” he said.

Ghiz was referring to the testimony of retired RCMP Const. Mike Bouvier, who prepared the crash report in this case.

The trial has been ongoing in P.E.I. Supreme Court in Summerside since Sept. 11.

It took about four hours for the jury to reach its conclusion.

Collicutt was charged following a two-vehicle collision on Oct. 9, 2015, in Central Bedeque.

The car Collicutt was driving, a 2008 Chevy Impala, collided with a 2000 Toyota Echo at the intersection of Route 1A and Route 10. The driver of the second vehicle, Dorothy Mae Mayhew, 67, of Lady Fane, was killed.

There were no witnesses to the crash. Collicutt told the RCMP early on he couldn’t remember anything about the collision.

He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and suffered serious injuries, including various broken bones. He still walks with a limp.

During the trial, the jury heard evidence that on the morning of the crash Collicutt had travelled to Borden-Carleton to visit Kate Collicutt. However, the visit was unexpected and she was out of the province.

Collicutt left Borden-Carleton and travelled towards the highway on Route 10.

Something happened as Collicutt’s car approached the intersection with Route 1A that caused him to shoot through the intersection, without stopping, at between 95 and 117 km/h.

Mayhew was returning home from a hairdresser’s appointment in Summerside.

A data-recording device recovered from Collicutt’s vehicle showed the relative speed of the car at the point of impact and the gas pedal was fully engaged.

That device was a key piece evidence for the Crown and Ghiz spent most of the trial trying to raise reasonable doubt as to its authenticity. He questioned the RCMP’s handling of the recorder and called a witness, crash reconstructionist Jason Young, who provided an alternative explanation of what might have happened. Young said the data pointed to a “textbook case” of a driver accidentally hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal.

Something the jury didn’t know before they started their deliberations was Collicutt has a handful of previous motor vehicle convictions, including a fine for failing to stop at a stop sign or red light.

No evidence regarding Collicutt’s previous driving record was entered into evidence during the trial.

Once the court became aware there was potential for the information to be reported on by local media, the judge, after consulting the defence and Crown, decided to sequester the jury early to prevent its members’ opinions from being biased by that knowledge. The jury had been sequestered since Monday morning.

The Crown can still appeal the jury’s decision. Crown attorney John Diamond declined to comment after the jury’s decision was announced.