Natsis lawyers seek to halt trial
Defence team argues elements of OPP report destroyed
The defence team for a Pembroke dentist whose drunkdriving criminal trial has taken more than a year to prosecute has filed an application for a stay of proceedings that, if granted, could halt the trial indefinitely.
The lawyers defending Christy Natsis in her criminal trial in the death of Bryan Casey say that evidence “at the core of the prosecution” has been destroyed and both an adjournment or a production order cannot “remedy the prejudice caused by the wilful destruction of evidence,” according to an application filed with the court on Thursday.
According to the application, a draft expert report that was prepared by OPP collision reconstructionist Const. Jeffrey Hewitt was intentionally destroyed during preparations for court.
Hewitt, whose cross-examination continued Friday, prepared a draft report on the module data of both vehicles involved in the collision and his interpretation of that data using Microsoft Word. Hewitt then printed the draft and sent a hard copy to his OPP peer-reviewer Const. Robert Kern. Kern marked up the hard copy, but then scanned the report and sent it back to Hewitt as a PDF file attached in an email.
Hewitt then made some of Kern’s suggested changes, but may have also made additional changes to the original draft report. But, once doing so, he deleted the email with the draft report and suggested changes. It was the final version of the report, not any of the variations, that was submitted to the Crown. The Crown then disclosed that report to the defence. Hewitt testified that he can’t be sure what portions of the report came from him and what may have been changes suggested by Kern. Both Kern and Hewitt said it is an OPP policy for collision reconstructionists to destroy drafts.
Hewitt has previously testified the original copy he submitted for peer review had been deleted, a printed copy of the report was destroyed and that PDF copies of the original report with changes and emails in which they were attached were all deleted.
Defence lawyers Michael Edelson, Vince Clifford and Solomon Friedman argue the deletion means the Crown is unable to disclose relevant evidence in the case and the destruction of this evidence compromises Natsis’s right to a fair trial.
“The destroyed draft report fundamentally prejudices the Applicant’s ability to meaningfully challenge the findings of the expert witness who will testify with regards to causation, an essential element to every single charge on the Information before the Court,” an appendix to the application says.
If a stay can’t be granted, Natsis’s defence is asking for a complete exclusion of the expert report.
Hewitt has previously been question by defence about his notes and their disclosure. In his continued cross-examination Friday, Hewitt was hammered on why he used a twosecond perception reaction time for Bryan Casey in his collision calculations when industry literature shows drugs and/or alcohol can influence a person’s reaction time.
Natsis is charged with impaired driving causing death, operating a motor vehicle over the legal limit causing death and dangerous driving causing death in connection to the 2011 crash that killed Casey on Hwy. 17 near Arnprior. Natsis and Casey were both over the legal blood-alcohol limit to drive.