Family and friends of Yotin Ironstand, who died in 2011 from injuries he sustained in a collision with a pickup truck, packed Yorkton Provincial Court Friday to hear the fate of the man who was driving the truck.
Jason Ungar will pay $410 in fines for speeding and driving without due care and attention.
According to trial testimony, on the evening of July 31, 2011, Ironstand, travelling northbound on Gladstone Avenue on his bicycle, ran a red light at the intersection of Gladstone and Smith Street. Ungar, driving westbound on Smith, braked and swerved but could not avoid striking the youth.
At trial, the Crown, represented by Barrie Stricker produced numerous eyewitnesses who testified Ungar was travelling at a high rate of speed. Stricker also entered a videotape from the Super C Convenience and Gas Bar.
During a voire dire within the trial, Shane Wagner for the defence applied for the exclusion of the tape on the grounds it was a violation of Ungar’s Charter right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure.
In a written decision released April 10, Justice Darin Chow, dismissed the defence Charter application, but still ruled the video, and testimony derived from it, inadmissible on the basis of its poor quality and the Crown’s failure to establish its authenticity.
Nevertheless, based on eyewitness testimony the judge was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Ungar’s speed was between 60 and 70 kilometres an hour in a 50 km zone.
On the driving without due care and attention charge, Chow defined “due care” as “the standard of care that is owed in the circumstances” with respect to the totality of the driving conditions.
The judge acknowledged that Ungar had the green light and tried to avoid the collision, but found him guilty of both counts.
“Nonetheless, the evidence establishes that he was exceeding the speed limit, in the immediate vicinity of an intersection, a rail crossing, a school, a crosswalk and a nearby stand of trees adjacent to the roadway,” Chow said.
“This was further compounded by the fact that the sunlight would have been directly in the accused’s eyes as he proceeded west, thereby further obscuring his view. I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused’s manner of driving, viewed objectively, constitutes a departure from the standard a reasonable and prudent driver would have observed in all the circumstances.
Before sentencing proceeded, Stricker attempted to submit a victim impact statement on behalf of Alicia Delorme, Ironstand’s mother. Wagner objected saying there was no provision under the Traffic Safety Act for victim impact statements. The judge agreed.
Delorme was relieved that the court case is over, but believes there has been no justice for her son.
“If I had it my way, he’d go to jail,” she said.
