‘Came out of nowhere’
Man found guilty of impaired driving but not guilty of impaired driving causing bodily harm
Even though a P.E.I. man had blood-alcohol readings above the legal limit when his vehicle struck and severely injured a woman crossing a busy Charlottetown road, he has been found not guilty of impaired driving causing bodily harm.
On Feb. 27 in provincial court in Charlottetown, Chief Judge Jeff Lantz gave his decision and recounted the evidence presented at a multiday trial in January.
THE FACTS
On May 26, 2023, the accused – Paul B. Ayles, 62 – was driving on St. Peters Road and struck a woman crossing the road. The woman crossed the road from left to right and was north of the poorly-lit crosswalk at Francis Lane. It was estimated that the collision occurred at 9:06 p.m. The woman was wearing dark clothing and was on a phone call with a friend at the time of the collision. A log of her phone showed that she was on the phone from 8:43 p.m. until 9:13 p.m. Her friend on the other end of the phone call could hear people trying to help the woman after the collision.
Several witnesses, including the driver behind Ayles, also testified about the poor visibility at the time of the collision due to darkness and rain.
The woman sustained a fractured skull, fractured cheek bones, a fractured fibula and a concussion. She spent four days in hospital as a result of her injuries.
DIDN’T SEE THE WOMAN
Ayles' video statement to police was also discussed at the trial. Ayles said that he didn't see the woman on the side of the road or crossing from left to right. Ayles said it was very dark and raining. His windshield wipers were on when the woman walked in front of his vehicle and was struck. Ayles said he didn't see anything until his windshield cracked, adding that the woman "came out of nowhere."
NOT SPEEDING
Ayles' lawyer, Peter Ghiz, called Jason Young, a collision reconstructionist and president of Advantage Forensics in Toronto, to testify at the trial. Young testified in court by video.
Young analyzed the computer data from Ayles' 2007 Toyota Yaris. Young concluded that Ayles was driving 46 km/h at the time of the collision in a 50 km/h zone. Ayles only started to brake a fraction of a second prior to the collision, which supported the claim that he didn't see her crossing the road.
Young's conclusion was that regardless of whether Ayles was impaired or sober, the collision with the woman would have happened anyway given the circumstances. The collision was unavoidable, he said. Young based that conclusion on police reports and collision re-enactments he performed in P.E.I. in October 2023.
ISSUES WITH RE-ENACTMENTS
Crown attorney John Diamond raised concerns with the re-enactments. Those concerns involved the pedestrian in the re-enactments being taller than the actual victim, wearing lighter-coloured clothing and using a different and newer vehicle with better headlights. Another concern raised was that it wasn't raining during the re-enactments. As well, it was estimated that the collision occurred about 15 minutes after sunset whereas the reenactments took place 75 minutes after sunset. The pedestrian in the re-enactments also remained at the side of the road as the test vehicle passed and did not walk into traffic for safety reasons. Diamond also noted that Young drove 55 km/h in one of the test drives, which was over the legal speed limit. Lantz described Young's findings in the re-enactments as "educated guesswork," but still offered some evidence in the matter.
IMPAIRMENT DIDN'T CAUSE COLLISION
Based on the evidence, Lantz said he could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Ayles' alcohol impairment was a significant contributing cause of the collision and the bodily harm to the woman. As a result, Lantz found Ayles not guilty of impaired driving causing bodily harm. Lantz noted that despite being over the legal alcohol limit, Ayles drove below the speed limit, and there was no evidence of erratic or dangerous driving or of imprudent behaviour due to impairment.
GUILTY OF IMPAIRED DRIVING
Lantz did find Ayles guilty of impaired driving. It was estimated in court that at the time of the collision, Ayles' blood-alcohol readings were between 102 milligrams (mg) and 113 mg of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. However, for the impaired driving charge, Ayles was convicted based on two breathalyzer samples given more than an hour later. The blood-alcohol readings provided at the Charlottetown police station at 10:09 p.m. and 10:29 p.m. were both 90 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. Readings of 80 mg of alcohol and above are a Criminal Code of Canada offence. For impaired driving, Lantz sentenced Ayles on Feb. 27 to three days in jail, a $1,000 fine, a $300 victim surcharge and a oneyear driving ban plus the time in jail.
Ayles did not have a prior criminal record.