Drunk driving sentence increased in fatal P.A. crash
A man who drunkenly sped down a Prince Albert street and struck a pedestrian, killing her instantly, must serve a longer sentence, a ruling from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal says.
Kirk David Ross, 23, had a blood-alcohol level of .192 — more than twice the legal limit — when he struck and killed Danika Clarke on Nov. 19, 2011. He was driving faster than 115 kilometres an hour in a 40 km/h zone and hit Clarke as she was crossing the street on foot.
The impact severed both her legs and threw her almost 80 metres. Clarke, a 17-year-old mother of one, died at the scene.
Ross didn’t stop. He rearended a vehicle, then veered into the opposing lane and hit another vehicle head-on. The four occupants of that vehicle were not injured. Ross was arrested about an hour later at a house in the area.
After Ross pleaded guilty in Prince Albert provincial court in October 2012 to drunk driving causing death, he was sentenced to 24 months in jail, minus four months credit for time spent on remand, followed by 18 months of probation. The Crown appealed, arguing the sentence was “demonstrably unfit.”
Justice Ralph Ottenbreit, who penned the unanimous appeal court decision — with Justice Georgina Jackson and Justice Neal Caldwell concurring — agreed.
“A sentence of 24 months simply does not meet the fundamental principle of sentencing, being proportionality,” Ottenbreit wrote. “It does not give effect to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender or give effect to the objectives of deterrence or denunciation.”
The appeal court imposed a sentence of 30 months — the sentence the Crown originally argued for in provincial court — but Ottenbreit indicated an even higher sentence would be appropriate.
“In considering what a fit sentence would be in these circumstances, if the court were unfettered, a sentence of three or four years may have been in order. We, however, are constrained by the 30-month limit which was the basis upon which the guilty plea was obtained,” he wrote.
The appeal ruling summed up the aggravating factors considered by the sentencing judge: Ross’s high bloodalcohol reading, his “grossly excessive speed” on a residential street, the fact Ross was on probation when he committed the offence and the fact he fled the scene of the accident.
Ottenbreit said drunk driving sentences have been generally increasing over the past 30 years, but despite that, “drinking and driving offences continue to be a societal problem.”
With the increase in the sentence, the probation order was set aside. However, a three-year driving prohibition and 10-year firearms prohibition remain in place.