Driver blames seizure, can’t recall fatal crash
Calgarian James Robert Farkas can still vividly recall the face of the young driver he killed during what he says was an epileptic seizure.
And Farkas said Thursday he has vowed never to drive again following the Aug. 2, 2017, crash that killed Ritvik Bale, 20, and his sister, Rashmi, 24.
Farkas faces two charges of criminal negligence causing death in connection with the crash in southeast Calgary.
The accused told defence lawyer Curtis Mennie he doesn’t recall the deadly collision, which occurred shortly after noon at the intersection of 128th Avenue and 46th Street S.E.
Farkas’ out-of-control pickup truck broad-sided Bale’s Scion car, which was leaving the parking lot of the Real Canadian Superstore.
He testified he recalls having a Bluetooth conversation with his friend, Dylan Nicholas, as he waited at the lights at 130th Avenue S.E., moments before the crash.
“The last thing I remember was being stopped with my signal light on to turn left,” Farkas said.
“I vaguely recall a barricade that was apparently beside me,” he said.
“My next memory is the police standing at my window telling me I’m under arrest for murder and Ritvik 10 feet in front of me. I could see his face. I was obviously confused at that point.”
Farkas told Mennie he “felt fine” moments before his memory went blank.
The Calgary man said he had suffered epileptic seizures in the past, but only twice in the previous decade, after he had been placed on anti-convulsion medication.
He said in 2009, a combination of heavy drinking and sleep deprivation triggered one attack, leading him to control his alcohol intake and make sure he got adequate rest, and in 2015, he had another when he missed one or two doses of his medication.
But Farkas told Mennie neither of those factors were at play when he crashed into the Bale vehicle.
He said he can only imagine the pain and suffering the victims’ family has gone through since the crash.
“I don’t require empathy, I don’t require sympathy, I don’t require forgiveness,” he said. “I’m just so, so sorry this happened and it’s going to affect me forever, I’m just so, so sorry.”
Under cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Andrew Barg suggested Farkas was ill in the days before the crash, experiencing vomiting and diarrhea.
Barg suggested being sick would flush the anti-seizure medication out of Farkas’ system.
“That would put you at significant risk of a seizure if that happened, do you agree?” the prosecutor said.
“I can’t agree or disagree to that,” Farkas said.
His trial continues Friday.