Fate of driver in fatal pedestrian collision decided in May

Lawyer says client was trying to stop vehicle

Suzanne Jones was on her way to deliver Christmas cards to her late husband’s band-mates when her life came to a tragic end as she walked along Ferry Street on a cold winter’s night.

A car driven by a Welland man had gone through a stop sign at Sylvia Place and collided with a pick up truck driven by a Dunnville man.

The car rotated, mounted the curb, and struck the pedestrian on the sidewalk.

The 50-year-old Hamilton woman died instantly.

Christopher James Harvey, 25, was arrested and charged with dangerous driving causing death and obstructing police.

The Welland man pleaded not guilty to the charges and a fiveday trial was held in December. Closing submissions were held Thursday in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

Defence lawyer John Lefurgey says his client may be civilly liable for the crash, but his actions on Dec. 16, 2016 do not fit the legal definition of dangerous driving.

“Mr. Harvey is guilty, it just isn’t of dangerous driving,” he told Judge Ronald Watson.

“A combination of factors led to this tragic accident but the combination does not add up to dangerous driving.”

To be found guilty, he said, the Crown must prove Harvey’s actions that night were a marked departure from reasonable driving behaviour.

Court heard the roadway on Sylvia Place was snowy and slushy that night and the car Harvey was driving had bald tires.

Lefurgey said Harvey attempted to slow down at the intersection but was too late to bring the vehicle to a stop before it collided with the pickup truck due to the road conditions.

“Did he intentionally drive through the intersection? No, Mr. Harvey was trying to stop his vehicle.”

Assistant Crown attorney Andrew Brown disagreed.

“Mr. Harvey failed, refused or neglected to take into account the road conditions,” the prosecutor

said.

The girlfriend testified Harvey was driving aggressively and she had warned him to slow down moments before the crash.

Court heard Harvey had gone to visit his girlfriend at a nearby hotel and they were sitting in her car, discussing their relationship.

The discussion evolved into an argument and Harvey drove off with his girlfriend in the vehicle.

At one point, court heard, the defendant stopped at the side of the road when he recognized a friend. When his girlfriend attempted to step out of the car, he accelerated down the snow-covered road.

There was no evidence presented at trial to suggest Harvey was impaired by alcohol or a drug, although a syringe was found in the vehicle.

Jones and several friends were in Niagara Falls that night to check out the live music at been at the Maple Leaf Tavern.

Around 10 p.m. she started to walk down Ferry Street to Big Texas to deliver Christmas cards to the band Neon Rain — her late husband Wayne Jones had previously played with the band — when she was struck.

Jones worked at a day care centre in Burlington. Her friends described her as a big-hearted person who loved to dance to country music.

Jones and her friends were regulars at the Maple Leaf Tavern. Once news spread about her death, the band cut their performance short. They held a memorial show in her honour the next day.

The judge, who called the case “the utmost of tragedies,” will deliver his verdict May 18.