Calgary motorist Tina Melanie Hayne wasn’t using her Jeep as a weapon when she grazed a city cop as she blew through a speed trap, a jury ruled Friday.
But the eight-woman, four-man jury did find that Hayne was driving dangerously and unlawfully fled the scene of an accident after she failed to stop for Sgt. Kelly Todd.
And the seven jurors who returned to court following their verdict were surprised to learn Hayne has had similar brushes with the law in the past.
Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak said he will be seeking a jail term for Hayne when the case returns to court next week because of two prior convictions.
Hak told Justice Brian Burrows that Hayne has previous convictions for hit and run involving a pedestrian and failing to stop for a police officer.
The hit and run involved striking a pedestrian in a downtown crosswalk in the 1980s and the failing to stop involved a speed trap.
Jurors found Hayne was driving dangerously when she failed to pull over for Todd after he clocked her in excess of 20 km/h over the speed limit in a construction zone on Stoney Tr. N.W.
But they ruled Hak failed to establish the injuries suffered by Todd during the Aug. 19, 2008 incident, including a soft tissue wound to his shoulder, were caused by the collision.
Todd had testified he swung his summons clipboard at Hayne’s SUV as it passed him to “mark” the vehicle.
In response to a question by jurors while they were deliberating, Burrows said if the injuries were caused by Todd’s actions then Hayne could not be held responsible.
Hayne, 47, had been charged with assault with a weapon, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and leaving the scene of an accident where she caused bodily harm.
Jurors convicted her of included offences after ruling there was a doubt about how the injuries were caused.
At defence lawyer Balfour Der’s request, Burrows permitted Hayne to remain at liberty pending sentencing.
A Calgary driver convicted of dangerous driving and hit and run for blowing through a police radar trap at a construction site has a prior record for similar offences.
Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak said after the jury's verdict on Friday that, because of Tina Melanie Hayne's driving history, he will be seeking jail time.
"Ms. Hayne has a previous Criminal Code conviction for hit and run for running down a pedestrian," said Hak told Court of Queen's Bench Justice Brian Burrows.
"She also has a previous conviction for failing to remain at the scene, in relation to a police officer."
The pedestrian incident, he said, occurred in 1987 on a street in downtown Calgary. Hayne, 47, was convicted under the Traffic Safety Act in 2007 for speeding and failing to remain at the scene when stopped by police.
Hayne also faces trial on Sept. 15 in provincial court on another hit and run charge, for alleging taking off after hitting another vehicle.
She had faced much worse charges in her trial this week, but the jury of eight women and four men acquitted her of assault with a weapon - her Jeep Cherokee - after she allegedly struck Const. Kelly Todd on Stoney Trail N.W. on Aug. 19, 2008.
The jury also found her not guilty of dangerous driving causing bodily harm to the officer, but guilty of the included offence of dangerous driving.
As well, the jurors reduced the other charge from failing to stop at an accident causing bodily harm to just failing to stop at an accident.
The jury, which deliberated overnight before reaching a decision, had twice returned to ask questions regarding what constituted an assault causing bodily harm relating to Todd.
In the end they determined that grazing the holster of the officer, who attempted to stop Hayne by throwing his clipboard at her vehicle was not an assault.
Todd testified he tried to pull over the vehicle speeding in the construction zone and, when it became apparent the driver was not going to stop, he attempted to pull his sidearm, but did not have time before the vehicle arrived.
The officer said he was not injured, other than having a sore back, after the collision with Hayne's vehicle.
Hayne told court she thought it was a construction worker, not a police officer, who stepped out in front of her as she was driving along Stoney Trail.
She said she thought the person was stepping into her lane, so she swerved around him, then heard a loud bang in her window.
But she still didn't believe she had struck anyone because, when she looked back, she saw a man standing in the lane behind her SUV.
She also testified she could not remember seeing signs warning of a construction zone, where police had set up the radar trap.
She had told her lawyer Balfour Der she sped up after she passed the man because "I was frightened."
Even when she got to work and realized she had been in a collision, she did not report the incident.
Der and Hak will make their sentencing arguments to Burrows, on Thursday.Cop thought driver was trying to kill him
When a speeding motorist aimed her car at him Calgary police Sgt. Kelly Todd’s first reaction was to reach for his gun, a jury heard Monday.
But Todd said he didn’t have time to draw his service weapon before an SUV raced passed him, clipping him as it went by.
“I thought ... she was trying to kill me,” Todd said, of the middle-aged woman at the wheel of the truck.
“I believed she was trying to run me over (and) at that point I went for my side arm,” he told Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak.
Tina Melanie Hayne, 47, faces charges of hit and run, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon, her vehicle, in connection with the Aug. 19, 2008, incident.
Todd and his partner were running a speed trap in a 60 km/h construction zone on Stoney Tr. N.W. that morning when he spotted an approaching SUV.
He estimated the speed at 80 km/h and a subsequent laser reading showed the vehicle was doing in excess of that.
Todd then stepped out into the roadway to flag the driver down, but while she “slowed a bit,” the driver switched lanes and continued on.
The officer took one step left towards the other lane to attempt to get the motorist’s attention.
“At that point ... the vehicle turned and came right at me,” Todd said.
“I actually locked eyes with the driver.”
That was when he contemplated pulling his gun, but “I realized I don’t have time for this and I started to move to my right,” he said.
“At some point I started to spin,” said Todd, who suffered several minor injuries as well as a soft-tissue wound to his right shoulder which still limits his movement.
He said the incident haunted him for several months causing three different recurring dreams, one the way it happened, one in which he died and a third in which he fatally wounded the driver.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Balfour Der, the officer acknowledged it was dangerous for cops to run out into traffic to stop speeders.
Hayne’s trial, set for five days, continues on Tuesday.
The woman accused of trying to run down a Calgary cop said Tuesday she was only attempting to avoid a construction worker who appeared to be “playing chicken.” And Tina Melanie Hayne testified she was too frightened to stop after the man, who turned out to be a city police officer, tried to get in her way. Hayne told a jury of four men and eight women she believed Sgt. Kelly Todd was a construction worker who had no right to stop her Jeep. “It was my experience he was following me from lane to lane,” Hayne said. “I did not want ... an injury to him,” she told defence lawyer Balfour Der. Hayne, 47, faces charges of assault with a weapon, her vehicle, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and hit and run in connection with the Aug. 19, 2008, incident. Todd suffered several minor injuries, including a soft-tissue wound to his shoulder when he was clipped by Hayne’s Jeep after it failed to pull over in an 8 a.m. speed trap. Hayne admitted not stopping for the officer, but only because she didn’t think it was a policeman standing in the road in front of her, she said. “He was not a flag man,” she told Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak, of her reason for not stopping. Hayne said she slowed down by taking her foot off the gas and changed lanes when she noticed Todd in the left lane of Stoney Tr. N.W. When Todd followed her, she switches lanes again, only to see him mimic that move as well, she testified. “Did you think this man on the road was playing chicken with you?” Hak asked. “Possibly, yes,” Hayne said. “Who do you think was going to win a chicken battle between a vehicle and a pedestrian?” Hak said. “I can’t say,” Hayne replied, During her cross-examination Hayne often paused for long moments before giving an answer. At one point the prosecutor asked her if she was aware there was a risk in not slowing down for a pedestrian in the middle of the road. “There are a lot of questions here that require me to have a memory without notes, without things that would help me answer questions,” she responded. Hayne said she drove away without stopping after passing Todd because she believed he was uninjured. Jurors will hear final arguments on Wednesday.
I agree with the jury's decision in that she did not intend to injure the officer and I agree with the charges that she was convicted on. I think that based on her previous convictions, she should receive 2 years less a day of prison coupled with 3 years probation and a driving prohibition.
No comments:
Post a Comment