Friends, family upset impaired charge dropped
Kitchener woman was killed in high-speed crash
KITCHENER — Friends and family of Sheila Nunn, a Kitchener woman killed in a car crash in 2014, are upset that a charge of impaired driving causing death against the driver was dropped.
“The wheels of justice move slowly and sometimes — through no ill intent on anyone’s part — one even falls off,” said Nunn’s best friend, Susan Chilton. “This is a cautionary tale, really.”
Jeffrey Pitts, 43, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death on Tuesday and will be sentenced in February, but the charge of impaired driving causing death was withdrawn, apparently because of a Charter of Rights infringement.
Pitts apparently was not given a chance to call a lawyer without delay before giving a blood sample.
“As far as I’m concerned, and I think the majority of the population would agree with me, that in a case like this, the police should be able to demand blood and it should stand up in court,” said Nunn’s father, Lyle Nunn.
“Our judicial system doesn’t work that way.”
The maximum sentence for dangerous driving causing death is 14 years in prison, but Pitts might get much less. The maximum for impaired driving causing death is life in prison.
“It’s a tragedy that this slipped between the cracks,” Chilton said. “What does it say to everybody who’s fighting so hard for harsher penalties for people who have killed or hurt or just driven impaired? It’s a really negative message.”
Chilton, a college instructor, added, “It clearly was some sort of technicality and it is extremely frustrating and upsetting to all of us.”
Sheila Nunn, 49, mother of an adult son, was a passenger in her own car when it went out of control at 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 14, 2014, on Frederick Street near River Road in Kitchener.
The Lexus mounted a curb, slid across three lawns, hit a mature tree, became airborne and struck a house at 783 Frederick St., court was told on Tuesday. The car, which was destroyed, came to rest on its roof on the front steps of the house.
Data from the car’s black box revealed Pitts was driving 135 km/h five seconds before the crash on a street where the speed limit is 50 km/h. The speed dropped to 94 km/h just before the crash.
Nunn’s younger sister, Lisa Wyville, said the withdrawal of the impaired charge was “very disappointing.”
“She was my best friend and the glue of my family, really,” she said. “It’s really hard for our family.”
Wyville and Chilton hope Pitts gets a stiff sentence. Chilton hopes he gets a lifetime driving ban.
“No amount of prison time will bring Sheila back but, to me, the ultimate goal of the court system is to keep the public safe,” Chilton said. “And I believe Jeff Pitts poses a demonstrated threat to anyone on the roads, on a sidewalk, or even in their own front yard.”
The terms of Pitts’s release prohibit him from driving.
The Crown attorney for Waterloo Region, Mark Poland, said in an email he can’t comment at length because the case is still before the courts.
“In fact, it’s not only adjourned pending sentencing, but the full factual basis for the plea is not even entirely before the court at this moment,” he said.
The Pitts case was “reviewed thoroughly” by deputy Crown attorney Karey Katzsch, Poland said.
“Karey is as good as it gets in terms of finding a seasoned and experienced trial lawyer who understands the challenges and technical aspects associated with prosecuting a case of this nature,” he said.
“In the interests of transparency, and because we care a great deal about how the families of victims are impacted by crimes that occur in our community, we always try to do our best to explain the rationale behind our decision-making to grieving families in cases where a death has occurred,” Poland said.
“Unfortunately, the reality is that this area of the law is highly complex and not easy to either explain or understand.”
Poland did not say why the charge was dropped, but said in general “Charter-based considerations, such as issues pertaining to the accused person’s right to counsel, are often part of the complex calculus that informs our decision-making process.”
Pitts was convicted in 2001 of driving with more than the legal amount of alcohol in his blood, court records show. He was fined and barred from driving for a year.
Pitts is a registered massage therapist in Kitchener and has worked with clients who have been “involved in traumatic automobile accidents,” according to his work biography.
Chilton said it’s a “slap in the face” that Pitts has been free on bail.
“The day he was released on bail, we were literally lowering Sheila into her grave. And he’s been out ever since. This is a unique form of torture, knowing that someone is out in the community free for (almost) two years since they caused someone’s death. That has added to our pain.”
Pitts will be sentenced on Feb. 24 after victim impact statements are presented.
Nunn began her career as a funeral director in Waterloo Region. She went on to become the administrative inspector for the Board of Funeral Services in Toronto, later became the chief executive of Funeral Plans Canada and then started her own company, Nunn Shannik Preneed Solutions.
“I think there will be a lineup for the victim impact statements because there are so many people she touched as a mentor and as a friend,” Chilton said.
“She was extremely bright, wonderful sense of humour, super-empathetic. An all-around exceptional person.”