Source: Bracebridge Examiner
ONTARIO - North Bay resident Chris Smith, 43, will spend the next four years in jail after being sentenced for killing a Lake of Bays cottager and severely injuring the man’s wife during a drunk-driving tragedy last summer.
The ruling came down in Bracebridge court Nov. 25.
Smith sat teary-eyed as Judge W.G. Beatty made his comments on the case.
“Impaired driving takes a catastrophic toll on our highways each year,” said Beatty, noting that Smith wreaked deadly havoc on “two innocent citizens” by driving drunk on May 14, 2008.
Court heard how Smith left Bigwin Island by ferry on the evening in question, got into a truck on the mainland and eventually crashed head on into a vehicle carrying Anson Hardy, 81, and his wife Isabel Doreen Hardy.
The collision, which happened on Highway 117, killed Anson Hardy and left Isabel Hardy with severe injuries.
Smith’s breath test readings that night indicated he had between 119 milligrams and 139 mg of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, court was told.
Court heard that Smith also consumed marijuana on the night in question. Smith himself was severely injured in the crash, and awakened almost two weeks later with no recollection of the events.
Smith pleaded guilty in June to impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm and driving while under suspension in relation to the collision.
In handing down his sentence, Beatty ruled Smith has “a high degree of moral culpability” in the crash. He noted Smith’s numerous past convictions for dangerous driving, obstructing police and driving while under suspension.
Noting Smith “smashed his credibility one conviction at a time,” Beatty said these aggravating factors demonstrated his “blatant disregard for the law.”
Beatty also noted Smith did not take advantage of available treatment for his abusive relationship with alcohol immediately following the crash, instead waiting until months later to start this aspect of the recovery process.
On the charge of impaired operation of a vehicle causing death, Smith received a sentence of four years incarceration.
On the charge of impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm, Smith received a sentence of another four years, to be served concurrently with the first sentence. He is also to serve a three-month sentence for driving while disqualified concurrently with the rest of his sentence.
Crown attorney Lyndsay Jeanes had requested Smith receive four years in prison during her prosecution of the case, while the defence had asked for two years, accompanied by three years of probation.
Family members were not present in the courtroom for the verdict.
In victim impact statements, however, they attested to both emotional and physical devastation the tragedy has caused.
Isabel Hardy suffered numerous injuries in the crash and the emotional toll has been overwhelming, court heard.
“I feel like my best friend has been taken from me,” she wrote in her statement. “I miss Anson’s companionship. He was a good man.”
The couple’s son Jeff Hardy also attested to the loss.
“I’m not mad,” he wrote. “I’m sad. A bad decision was made and has altered many lives. We miss my father very much. We miss the weekends at the cottage raking leaves with dad while mom is inside preparing the turkey. It’s all just memories now. Memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
The Hardys are from Mississauga.
Anson Hardy was a seasonal Bracebridge Rotary Club member during the months the couple frequented their cottage, court heard.
Now banned from driving for life, Smith sat silent as the verdict was rendered.
Judge Beatty made it clear as to why he ruled in the prosecution’s favour.
“The emotional toll on the family could not be more devastating,” he stated. “There was no reason for (Smith) to be on the road that night … his licence being under suspension at the time.”
Source: Bracebridge Examiner [Nov 19, 2009]
Christopher Smith has 'no memory' of fatal crash which killed Anson Hardy
ONTARIO - A North Bay man who pleaded guilty to impaired driving in a 2008 car crash that killed a local cottager said even though he has no memory of the crash, he takes full responsibility for the crime.
Christopher Smith, 43, told a Bracebridge court last week he feels remorse, guilt and shame over his actions on the night of May 14, 2008. On that night, Smith was driving drunk on Highway 117 when he slammed into an oncoming vehicle, killing Lake of Bays cottager Anson Hardy, 81, and severely injuring his wife Isabel Doreen Hardy, 77.
Smith pleaded guilty in June to impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm and driving while under suspension in relation to the collision.
He will be sentenced Nov. 25 in Bracebridge court.
The Crown has asked that Smith receive four years incarceration, while the defence is seeking two years incarceration plus three years probation.
Appearing before Judge W.G. Beatty on Thursday, Smith, fighting back tears, apologized for his actions.
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said, adding that he has “no memory at all of the crash.”
Smith said he awoke in hospital almost two weeks after the collision. Court heard that his mother was by his side.
It was she who informed him there had been a crash, court heard.
Told that an older man had died in the crash, Smith said he asked his mother if he had suffered a heart attack while driving.
When she asked if he had been drinking, he said he realized what he had done.
“I just found out about the extent of Mrs. Hardy’s injuries today,” he cried.
Smith said he struggles every day to live with what he has done.
“(In the shower every day) I sit on a disability board,” he told court. “I cry until the water goes cold.”
He pledged to tell his story publicly so that others may learn from his mistakes.
Smith said he has been alcohol-free since the crash and that he has earned his one year medallion from Alcoholics Anonymous, signifying a year’s worth of sobriety.
He said it is his intention to give the medallion to the Hardy family as a small token of his sincerity.
“My legacy behind me is someone that caused a fatal crash,” he said, “but yet, (I) never picked up a drink again.”
In addition to Smith’s testimony, statements were read into court, which bore witness to the terrible impacts the tragedy has had on family and friends of the Hardys.
The couple had been married almost 54 years at the time of the collision. Anson was a seasonal member of the Bracebridge Rotary Club, court heard.
“I think I had close to an ideal life,” read the statement of Anson’s wife Isabel. “My heart broke when the paramedic at the crash told me Anson didn’t make it.”
Court heard that Isabel Hardy’s own injuries were immense — her left hand was broken, she had an elbow dislocated and a kneecap crushed.
She also had a broken leg and suffered a closed head injury, all of which required ongoing medical treatment.
The couple’s daughter Brenda Hardy relayed how she felt when she first received word of the crash just after 11 p.m. on the night in question.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh please God, just tell me that they are both all right,” she wrote. “As I held my breath, (I was told) in a teary voice, ‘your dad didn’t make it.’ I couldn’t believe what (had just been) said to me. I remember thinking that this can’t be true.”
Case law
Much of Thursday’s court proceedings involved Crown attorney Lyndsay Jeanes referring to case law, illustrating how such crashes are not simply 'accidents', but preventable crimes.
Court heard that prior to getting into his vehicle, Smith had left Bigwin Island golf course where he had been drinking.
Jeanes pointed out that in today’s day and age, every member of society knows the dangers of drinking and driving.
“He knew the risks and he took the risk when he didn’t have to,” she told court.
“The sole moral culpability lies with the accused.”
Court heard that tests after the collision indicated Smith registered between 119 and 139 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
He had also consumed marijuana on the night in question, court was told.
Smith’s lawyer John Sharkey said Smith is an admitted alcoholic who has experimented with cocaine in the distant past.
Court heard that Smith’s criminal record includes three dangerous driving convictions and one conviction for impaired driving.
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