Appeal filed in dangerous driving case
Man was acquitted following crash that killed 68-year-old
The Crown has filed an appeal of the acquittal of Ken Chung, who was charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Vancouver doctor Alphonsus Hui.
Hui died at age 68 on Nov. 15, 2015 after a car slammed into his at the intersection of West 41st Avenue and Oak Street in Vancouver.
Police estimate the driver who hit him had been travelling at more than 140 kilometres per hour in a 50-km/ h zone before the accident.
Ken Chung, then 35 and of Richmond, was tried for dangerous driving causing death and was acquitted on May 25.
The judge concluded “the momentariness of the accused’s conduct in excessively speeding is insufficient to meet the criminal fault component and he must be acquitted.”
The acquittal prompted Hui’s family to start a petition, calling for more than “a slap on the wrist” for Chung, according to a Facebook post by Hui’s daughter, Monique. It has drawn an outpouring of tens of thousands of signatures.
Monique Hui described the emotions that followed news of the appeal.
“I cried hysterically, and then I called my mom and we cried,” she said. “We are quietly celebrating that maybe at this point, things are finally going to turn the corner, because the last two and a half years have been absolutely horrendous. And nothing has gone our way.
“Everything that happened has been unfair and tragic, but we feel like this is the first step toward maybe things going the right way.”
Josephine Hui, widow to Alphonsus, echoed the optimism.
“This is the first time I’m able to breathe,” she said. “At least this proves there’s hope. And I’m also very happy for the overwhelming support from outside.”
Monique added that there is still much work for her family to do, and that begins right away. On Friday, she will be delivering the petition, now signed by over 50,000, to the minister of public safety, her MLA and the attorney general.
“Ultimately, we want Ken Chung behind bars . ... But the larger issue is really, potentially, my father’s legacy, which is affecting change,” she said.
“We’re hoping to introduce new legislation and tighter laws in regards to repeat offenders on the road, specifically excessive speeding.”
Two weeks before Chung was acquitted, he appeared in court on an unrelated charge of excessive speeding and was found guilty for that 2017 offence. The Motor Vehicle Act defines excessive speeding as driving more than 40km/h over the speed limit.
The B.C. Prosecution Service is seeking a ruling from the Court of Appeal for British Columbia that the acquittal be set aside, a conviction substituted as originally charged or a new trial ordered.