An Ontario man who blew a stop sign on a rural road in Rocky View County, killing a southern Alberta father and badly injuring a 10-year-old girl, was found guilty of dangerous driving offences Tuesday.
Augustin Henry was convicted of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm by Court of King’s Bench Justice Janice Ashcroft.
During the trial, court heard that Henry, who was travelling east on Highway 564 in January 2020, crashed his rental SUV into a car headed north on Highway 9.
Daniel Bzdel was killed. His 10-year-old daughter suffered life-threatening injuries and remained in hospital for months with a traumatic brain injury.
Following an application made by defence lawyer Curtis Mennie, Justice Ashcroft ordered the province to release records relating to the intersection, where at least five people were killed in an 18-month period.
But ultimately, the defence did not proceed with an application related to those records.
Car hit at 90km/h
An accident reconstruction expert testified Henry was travelling at about 90 kilometres per hour when he hit Bzdel’s vehicle.
The rural road has a number of safety measures in place alerting motorists to the upcoming intersection including several signs, rumble strips and a flashing red light.
In his closing arguments, Mennie argued Henry experienced a momentary lapse of attention at the time of the fatal crash.
But prosecutor Ron Simenik argued Henry was guilty of a protracted period of inattention.
‘A reasonable person’
Ashcroft agreed, finding that “a reasonable person would have taken note of the traffic signage and stopped.”
Henry was allowed to remain on bail despite Simenik’s request that the judge revoke his release.
Mennie told the judge he plans to ask for a conditional sentence order, meaning Henry would be allowed to serve his sentence in the community.
A date for sentencing has not been set.