Drunk driver now victim’s caregiver
Denise Laura Severight will live with the devastating outcome of her decision to drive drunk every day she helps her spouse, who is in a wheelchair because of her actions.
Severight was sentenced this week in Regina Provincial Court on a charge stemming from a single-vehicle rollover that left her common-law partner Joseph H. Kahnapace confined to a wheelchair after he suffered a broken neck.
She is not in jail today because Kahnapace needs her at home, as his primary caregiver, court heard.
Crown prosecutor Ryan Snyder said it was largely at Kahnapace’s behest that 42-year-old Severight not go to jail that he agreed to request a conditional sentence, served in the community.
Had the crime not occurred in 2008, before the law changed to prohibit conditional sentences in such circumstances, it wouldn’t have even been an option.
As Kahnapace looked on quietly from his wheelchair, Severight received an 18-month conditional sentence after pleading guilty to impaired driving causing bodily harm. The terms of her sentence include staying away from alcohol and illicit substances, taking part in any recommended programs, maintaining a curfew, and reporting regularly to a probation supervisor. If the terms are breached, she could still end up in jail. Severight is also prohibited from driving for a year.
“This is quite a serious offence,” Judge Anna Crugnale-Reid said. “You see what happened,” she added, noting the severe consequences of driving drunk. “That’s unfortunate.”
The rollover occurred around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2008 on a road near the Murray Golf Course, just east of the city. The vehicle, carrying four occupants, caught fire in the crash.
Snyder said Severight’s bloodalcohol level was .116.
“This does appear to be an incident that’s out of character for her,” defence lawyer Jennifer Calderbank told court. There are no prior similar offences on Severight’s record.
She said Severight and Kahnapace have been a couple since 2007 and remained together despite the crash and its impact on their lives.
Severight went to a residential treatment centre after the rollover, and says she hasn’t consumed alcohol since 2008 although she has struggled with other substance abuse issues, Calderbank said.
She noted her client’s troubled background. The daughter of parents who struggled with substance abuse, Severight was raised in foster care homes, suffered abuse in residential school, and has lost several family members in the past few years.
Severight, who spent the last 33 days in custody, was also sentenced to time served on charges of theft and failing to appear in court.
Snyder said both Severight and Kahnapace were charged after stealing a purse belonging to a woman who was playing the slot machines at Casino Regina in August 2012. Severight was ordered to repay the theft victim $865.
Sentenced in March for his part in the theft, Kahnapace is also serving a conditional sentence at home with Severight.