Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Verdict Delayed For Speedboat Operator Accused In Shuswap Lake Death

The Canadian Press, 24 Sep, 2015 01:18 PM
    KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A speedboat operator accused of driving erratically and killing the driver of a houseboat will have to wait a month to learn his fate.
     
    Leon Reinbrecht is charged with criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm in the July 2010 crash on Shuswap Lake that claimed the life of Ken Brown.
     
    Reinbrecht's trial began in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year.
     
    Justice Sheri Donegan was slated to deliver her verdict Wednesday but will now wait until Oct. 27.
     
    Multiple witnesses testified about seeing a speedboat being driven erratically on the busy lake in the moments leading up to the crash, which followed a post-Canada Day fireworks display.
     
    Defence lawyers repeatedly focused their questioning on whether the houseboat was properly lit.
     
    An expert witness for the defence testified the lighting system was not working at the time of the crash, and police admitted they failed to check it. 
     
    Justin Beaumont, an expert in marine-vessel investigations, also raised questions about the police investigation.
     
    At one point during the trial, an RCMP corporal who investigated the crash contacted Beaumont's employer, the Canadian Coast Guard, to see if the man would be in conflict by testifying.
     
    Toxicology reports showed Brown was impaired at the time of his death. The Crown put forward no evidence about whether Reinbrecht was intoxicated, but a witness who was on the speedboat said Reinbrecht had been drinking.
     
    In his closing argument in June, defence lawyer Joe Doyle compared Brown to a driver on a highway without headlights.
     
    "This is running into an unlit vessel that's moving, that should have had its lights on," Doyle said.
     
    "He (Brown) shouldn't have been out there."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Deadline Approaches For Toronto To Declare Interest In Bidding For Olympics 2024

    The premier of Ontario says she hasn't decided whether her government will support an Olympic bid by the city of Toronto if one is made.

    Deadline Approaches For Toronto To Declare Interest In Bidding For Olympics 2024

    Groups To Protest Removal Of Historic Ruins Near Montreal Highway Construction Site

    Groups To Protest Removal Of Historic Ruins Near Montreal Highway Construction Site
    Archeologists unearthed the ruins of the former village earlier this summer. 

    Groups To Protest Removal Of Historic Ruins Near Montreal Highway Construction Site

    Former Harper Aide Bruce Carson Pleads Not Guilty To Influence Peddling

    Bruce Carson is charged in connection with the proposed sale of water purification systems to First Nations communities.

    Former Harper Aide Bruce Carson Pleads Not Guilty To Influence Peddling

    Federal Government Balances Books One Year Early, Posts Surprise $1.9 Billion Surplus

    The number ends a streak of six deficits under the Conservatives and is certain to reverberate on the campaign trail.

    Federal Government Balances Books One Year Early, Posts Surprise $1.9 Billion Surplus

    Victoria Sewage Woes Still Cause Stink As Region Sends Site Proposal Down Drain

    Victoria Sewage Woes Still Cause Stink As Region Sends Site Proposal Down Drain
     The Victoria region is on the hook for $750,000 now that plans have officially fallen through on the proposed site for a controversial sewage treatment plant.

    Victoria Sewage Woes Still Cause Stink As Region Sends Site Proposal Down Drain

    Elderly Indo-Canadian Woman Goes Missing In Surrey

    Elderly Indo-Canadian Woman Goes Missing In Surrey
    Mohinder Sodhi was reported missing on September 4 from her residence in the 6600 block of 127 A Street, Surrey

    Elderly Indo-Canadian Woman Goes Missing In Surrey