`Linda O'leary deserves to be exonerated'
Kevin O'leary to testify at fatal boat crash trial
Instead of asking a judge to dismiss for lack of evidence the charge against Linda O'leary from a fatal boating collision, her lawyer said her husband, celebrity businessman Kevin O'leary, would be called to the stand as the defence's only witness and hope for a not-guilty verdict — because “Linda O'leary deserves to be exonerated,” court heard Tuesday.
“From the outset, we have found it difficult to understand why we are here. We have been at a loss to understand the evidentiary foundation upon which a conviction for this offence could conceivably be based,” Brian Greenspan told court after the close of the presentation of the prosecution's evidence over more than three weeks of trial.
“As a result of the tragic collision of Aug. 24, 2019, Suzana Brito and Gary Poltash lost their lives. Regrettably, the search for fault and responsibility resulted in the charge before you, operating a vessel in a careless manner, without due care and attention.”
He said the O'learys waited “with considerable anticipation” to hear what evidence the Crown had to support its charge.
“We have yet to hear any basis, in our submission, or foundation for this prosecution,” he said. “In our submission, there is no evidence of excessive speed. There is no evidence of imprudent driving conduct. There is no evidence that any consumption of alcohol affected the manner in which the boat was being prudently operated.
“The Nautique (boat that was struck, where Brito and Poltash were passengers on a stargazing trip) was drifting on Lake Joseph, invisible to any approaching vessel, invisible to Linda O'leary and to the occupants of the boat.”
In order to know there was an invisible object in her way, O'leary would need to be “prescient,” he said.
Rather than seek a directed verdict of acquittal, however, he wants to press ahead and call Kevin O'leary to the stand and allow the judge to deliberate on the entirety of evidence and arrive at a verdict, he told Justice Richard Humphrey.
Kevin O'leary was a passenger in the boat O'leary was driving, returning to their cottage on the exclusive cottage country lake from a neighbour's dinner party.
“We respectfully submit that Linda O'leary deserves to be exonerated of any wrongdoing in the tragedy of Aug. 24, 2019, and Kevin O'leary will tell you of the safe and prudent driving conduct that his wife demonstrated that night, and always,” Greenspan said.
Kevin O'leary was his wife's “second set of eyes” on the water that night, acting as a “lookout” in the dark, Greenspan said.
He is expected to testify “that he saw nothing until they were upon an unlit boat virtually in the middle of Lake Joseph.”
Kevin O'leary is in Los Angeles for television commitments, and is scheduled to testify by Zoom video link Wednesday morning, as the defence's first and only witness. He came to wide public attention as a celebrity investor on the reality TV series Dragons' Den and has since reprised that role on Shark Tank for U.S. television. He is also a former candidate for the leadership of the federal Conservative party.
Video of the crash, captured in the distance by a dockside security camera at the O'leary cottage, shows the light of the O'leary boat suddenly stopping and bouncing back in the water of a dark lake. The larger boat's lights only become visible 49 seconds after the crash.
During a breath test by police two hours after the crash, O'leary registered a warning level for alcohol content, requiring an immediate threeday licence suspension. She told the officer someone at the cottage handed her a vodka drink after the crash.
A witness from the boat that was hit said the O'leary boat was coming “ridiculously close” and shifting direction before the crash.
The operators of both vessels were charged by the OPP: O'leary with careless operation of a vessel and Richard Ruh, who was at the wheel of the Nautique, for not having the boat's lights on at night. Ruh earlier pleaded guilty but maintains his lights were on.
O'leary is fighting her charge at a lengthy trial in Parry Sound, Ont.
Court heard that at least six civil lawsuits sprung from the collision. Those proceedings were put on pause until after O'leary's trial.