Close X
Thursday, November 28, 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

    No Wall With Canada: Scott Walker Pulls Out Of U.S. Presidential Race

    No Wall With Canada: Scott Walker Pulls Out Of U.S. Presidential Race
    WASHINGTON — He talked about building a wall with Canada. What he found was one around the White House.

    No Wall With Canada: Scott Walker Pulls Out Of U.S. Presidential Race

    Tories' Election Pledge Runs Into Terry Fox Turbulence On Campaign Trail

    Tories' Election Pledge Runs Into Terry Fox Turbulence On Campaign Trail
    An apparently ill-advised Conservative attempt to score some electoral points by invoking one-legged runner Terry Fox has Stephen Harper on the defensive.

    Tories' Election Pledge Runs Into Terry Fox Turbulence On Campaign Trail

    U.S. Lawyer Moves From Lobbying For Pot Laws At Home To Urging B.C. Politicians

    U.S. Lawyer Moves From Lobbying For Pot Laws At Home To Urging B.C. Politicians
    Tonia Winchester said she thinks British Columbia is ready for a policy shift and that its other large city, Victoria, could also be a model for the rest of the country.

    U.S. Lawyer Moves From Lobbying For Pot Laws At Home To Urging B.C. Politicians

    Ghost Of Sea King Replacement Haunts Trudeau's F-35 Stealth Fighter Pledge

    Trudeau's pledge to back out of the F-35 program would not mean contract penalties since there is no signed agreement to break. 

    Ghost Of Sea King Replacement Haunts Trudeau's F-35 Stealth Fighter Pledge

    Vancouver Island Dad Punches A Cougar In The Face To Rescue His 2-Year-Old Girl From Its Jaws

    Vancouver Island Dad Punches A Cougar In The Face To Rescue His 2-Year-Old Girl From Its Jaws
    TAHSIS, B.C. — A Vancouver Island man punched a cougar in the face Monday to rescue his two-year-old girl from its jaws.

    Vancouver Island Dad Punches A Cougar In The Face To Rescue His 2-Year-Old Girl From Its Jaws

    Saskatchewan RCMP Officers Bring Chips, Salsa, Warnings To High School Frosh Party

    Saskatchewan RCMP Officers Bring Chips, Salsa, Warnings To High School Frosh Party
    REGINA — RCMP officers turned out to be the life of the party in a small Saskatchewan community.

    Saskatchewan RCMP Officers Bring Chips, Salsa, Warnings To High School Frosh Party