The eight men and four women of the jury have delivered their verdict in the Hunter Arnold trial. Following eight days of testimony and six hours of deliberation at Court of Queen's Bench in Yorkton, they found Arnold guilty of both counts of dangerous driving causing death.
The charges stem from a collision on Sept. 24, 2016 which killed two men, Tyler Dobko, 29, and Jordan Stoll, 17. Arnold was airlifted by STARS air ambulance to Regina with serious injuries and spent several weeks in hospital in Saskatoon.
The case hinged on whether Arnold had pulled into the northbound lane to pass a semi, or if he had merely been checking to see if it was safe to pass. Both Thomas Campbell for the defense and Andrew Wyatt for the prosecution called expert witnesses to testify to the nature of the collision, which Wyatt referred to as the “battle of the experts” in his closing statement. Both lawyers argued against the credibility of the other’s expert during their closing statements.
The condition of the car, the weather conditions at the time of the collision and whether or not it was possible to hydroplane were all touched on during the trial. The defense argued that Arnold was checking to see if it was safe to pass a semi, and lost control leading him to be further in the oncoming lane than he meant to be. The prosecution argued that Arnold had intended to pass when the collision occurred, and that his actions were a marked departure from what a reasonable person would have done in the same situation.
Arnold will be sentenced June 21.
