Dangerous driver didn't use vehicle as a weapon

Dangerous driver didn't use vehicle as a weapon, jury concludes

Crown plans to seek prison term for convicted hit and run driver

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.

Woman claims she believed cop was a construction worker

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.

Sentencing hearing for London man charged with impaired driving causing death

Bizarre reaction 

Guilty pleas in deaths

Suspect gets bail (March 20, 09)

Anguished kin describe their loss 

Dad feels like he lost two sons 

'They were like brothers' 

Fiery crash kills three 

'Son you'd always be proud of' 

Farewell to perfect brother 

Pals spent hours playing guitar hero

Andrew Kummer, 25, was released on $100,000 bail yesterday (March 19, 2009) on 15 charges, including three of impaired driving causing death

The London man accused of impaired driving causing the deaths of three people -- his best friend and two young boys -- has been freed on bail.

Andrew Kummer, 25, charged in last Friday's collision of two pickup trucks on London's outskirts, was released on $100,000 bail yesterday by justice of the peace Lorenzo Palumbo, ending an emotional, drawn-out hearing.

Still injured from the Lambeth-area crash, Kummer hobbled into the prisoner's box, hopping on his left foot and favouring his right leg.

He left the courthouse in a wheelchair, ignoring reporters' questions.

Kummer held his head in his hands for much of the proceedings, weeping at times.

His face still bore significant injuries -- large bruises were clearly visible around and below his left eye, and his forehead was severely swollen.

Police say two pickups collided at the intersection of Longwoods Road and Westdel Bourne, near Lambeth, just before 10:30 p.m. last Friday.

The crash killed best friends Mason Berube, 13, and Devon Titus, 12, both from the Chatham area. Mason's father, Jason Berube, survived but was seriously hurt.

The trio was returning home from a London Knights game, before which Mason's hockey team had played a scrimmage on the John Labatt Centre ice.

From the other pickup, Kummer and another man were hurt. A third, 26-year-old David Marshall, was killed.

Kummer is facing 15 charges including three counts of dangerous driving causing death and three of impaired driving causing death.

On his release yesterday, Kummer was told to refrain from contact with two people.

He was ordered to avoid alcohol and drugs and refrain from driving any vehicle, or even sitting in a driver's seat.

He was also told to surrender his passport to London police by this afternoon.

Kummer is to return to court April 8.

Dylan Krill could have been Andrew Kummer's fourth victim.

The 13-year-old boy from Kent Bridge, near Chatham, sat in a London court Monday, among a sad group of family and friends, to hear a driver -- who killed two of his friends and another person -- plead guilty to 10 charges in a horrific impaired driving crash.

The driver, 26-year-old Andrew Kummer, had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

Krill could have been in the same pickup truck with Mason Berube and Devon Tinus, his two long-time Chatham pals -- both 12 -- who died in the fiery, two vehicle crash March 13, 2009 at Westdel Bourne and Longwoods Rd. on London's outskirts.

Along with others in court Monday, Krill wore a photo badge of their evening together on the first night of March break, just before the two boys died after a London Knights hockey game. "Friends Forever," the badge read.

Krill was supposed to have gone with his pals for a sleep-over at Berube's house that night, his mom said, but Berube worried that peanut butter might have been left on the kitchen counter.

He told Krill, who has a severe peanut allergy, not to come over.

"By looking out for his friends, which everybody should do, (Mason) saved his life," Beth Krill said outside the courthouse after the guilty pleas.

Earlier in the day, as Kummer's preliminary hearing was to have begun, the courtroom fell silent when Kummer stood to listen to the charges -- three of impaired driving causing death, two of impaired driving causing bodily harm, three of dangerous driving causing death and two of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

"Guilty," he said.

Assistant Crown attorney Mark Czerkawski told Ontario Court Justice John Skowronski he would read a rendition of the facts, but promised there would be more at the next court date.

He warned the description would be disturbing.

Kummer was driving his pickup truck south on Westdel Bourne with passengers David Marshall and Randy Psaila.

Jason Berube, Mason's father, was driving his pickup along Longwoods Rd., having left the hockey game early to avoid heavy traffic.

It was about 10:15 p.m.

At the intersection, Jason Berube could see the other truck was speeding and not going to stop at the stop sign. He put on his brakes, but was struck by Kummer's truck on the passenger side.

Both trucks spun out of control into the ditch and caught fire.

Jason Berube was able to get out, despite a collapsed lung and broken femur. He tried to pull out the boys, but he was unable to save the children.

Others who came upon the crash tried to help, but the truck was engulfed in flames.

Kummer and Psaila managed to get out of Kummer's truck, but Marshall died at the scene.

A police officer noticed the smell of alcohol; Kummer said he'd had "one or two beers after work."

A blood sample test registered 210 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of Kummer's blood. Breath samples taken an hour later showed readings of 130 and 123 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. An impaired driving charge can be laid for blood-alcohol levels of 80 milligrams or higher.

Czerkawski said a toxicologist from the Centre of Forensic Sciences projected the blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was between 125 and 175 milligrams. The most accurate sample, he told Czerkawski, was the blood reading.

Through data retrieved from the truck, police crash experts were able to determine Kummer's vehicle was traveling at 122 km/h in the 70-km/h zone, Czerkawski said.

A sentencing hearing will be held March 5 that will include more evidence and victim impact statements. The judge indicated he won't be sentencing Kummer on that day.

Outside court, Wendy Tinus, Devon's mother, said she was surprised at Kummer's guilty pleas. "It's still fresh in everybody's mind. It could have taken forever," she said.

She took some comfort that the case won't need to be tried. However, forgiveness is much tougher to give, she said quietly, tears in her eyes.

Jason Berube, wearing a T-shirt with the two boys' photo on it, said he wasn't sure if the guilty pleas offered any comfort. "It would be nice to see him go through the whole process and learn something," he said of Kummer. "It was a good day, put it that way."

Berube said he's been unable to return to work since the crash. The loss of the two boys, he said, "has been hell."

"Your heart is broken and you feel like you can't go on with another day," said Denielle Berube, 23, Mason's sister. "You still have to live your life but you feel, how can you possibly go on?"

Mason's aunt, Michelle Rumble of Blenheim, said she hopes for a stern sentence.

"Every time there is an accident like this, they're going to get more and more (jail time)," she said of impaired drivers. "We are going to set precedent that this is going to end some day."

Dylan said quietly he was "OK" after the hearing. His dad, Brian, who drove the boys to the game that night to meet Mason's dad, was emotional.

He said he already had a brush with an impaired driving case. One of his former teachers was one of the "Pie Ladies" -- a group of elderly women killed in a Chatham crash two years ago that sent the impaired driver to prison for four years.

"Hopefully, people will start paying attention to what is going on," he said.

"It's up to the system now to punish him for killing two boys."

Considering all the horror swirling around him, Andrew Kummer chose an odd time to become chatty.

The fires that had engulfed the two pickup trucks in the crash were out.

Three people were dead.

Kummer had plowed into Jason Berube's pickup at the T-intersection of Longwoods Rd. and Westdel Bourne on London's outskirts about 10:15 p.m. on March 13, 2009.

Two of the dead were 12-year-old buddies, Mason Berube and Devon Tinus. They'd been heading home to Chatham with Mason's dad after a night at a London Knights hockey game.

The other person killed was Kummer's good friend, David Marshall, 26, a passenger in Kummer's truck with Randy Psaila. They were heading back from the Strathroy liquor store where Marshall had left his wallet that evening.

"This kind of sucks," Kummer said to London police Const. Andrew Stanley, as he held a bandage to Kummer's injured forehead after being strapped to a backboard and loaded into an ambulance.

At Kummer's sentencing hearing Friday in London on 10 charges, including three of impaired driving causing death, Stanley recalled Kummer talking about his "bad luck."

Stanley knew what he'd seen was a nightmare.

Moments before helping Kummer, the young police officer watched helplessly as a young boy inside Berube's truck was engulfed in flames before help could get to the vehicles.

He'd spoken to Jason Berube, the badly-injured father he found lying in a field nearby.

" 'My son, my son. My kids are in that truck. You have to save my kids,' " he begged Stanley, the court heard.

It was an emotional day before Justice John Skowronski, who heard evidence of Kummer's cavalier and jovial attitude after the crash, toxicological evidence and about Kummer's three-page criminal driving record that included a bizarre crash on a runway at the London International Airport.

The judge also heard from the grieving families -- moms, dads, grandmothers, sisters, brothers and cousins - who read 20 of 27 victim impact statements filed in the case, all of them remembering loved ones taken violently and too soon.

Kummer sat silently with his defence lawyer, Brian Greenspan.

Jean-Paul Palmentier, a forensic toxicologist at the Centre for Forensic Science, estimated Kummer had consumed the equivalent of 15 to 20 bottles of beer, or 21 1/2 to 29 ounces of spirits, or a combination of both, before the crash. That was based on a blood sample taken at the hospital that put Kummer's blood-alcohol level between 175 and 191 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood -- more than twice the legal limit.

Assistant Crown attorney Mark Czerkawski told Skowronski that Kummer, Marshall and Psaila had been to both the Wellington Rd. beer store to buy a 12-pack and to the Strathroy liquor store that evening. After the crash, police found charred, open tall-boy Heineken cans and Red Bull cans and a 12-pack of Miller Lite bottles with the caps still on in the burnt-out wreckage.

Const. Emmett Murchland, a crash reconstructionist, reviewed grisly crime scene photos and indicated Westel Bourne had a posted 70 km/h speed limit.

Kummer's truck was travelling at 122 km/h.

Stanley spoke softly as he described the crash scene and detailed the strange conversation with Kummer.

In the ambulance, Kummer joked with the paramedics and laughed about his penis size, Stanley said, even though he knew three people were dead. He flirted with the nurses in the hospital trauma room and asked for magazines.

"At no time did he make any comments to his sorrow or remorse or how this all transpired," Stanley said.

Kummer told Stanley he had no memory of anything after he left work at 5 p.m. and admitted he'd been drinking.

Greenspan suggested Kummer had amnesia or a post-traumatic reaction.

One grieving family member in the packed courtroom stood up and muttered "come on" and "bull. . . ." before leaving.

Others noted Kummer's strange responses. Nurse Stacee Clayton testified Kummer's demeanour at the hospital was "very flat" and he had "random outbursts of laughter." She said she asked him if he wanted a family member called.

Kummer declined the offer, "because his girlfriend would be very angry at him."

Const. Joel Pavoni was asked to get breath samples and to notify Kummer that three people were dead. "He laughed and kind of stated 'Oh, that sucks,' " Pavoni said.

He told Pavoni the breath-testing machine was "neat."

Pavoni told him he was charged with impaired driving. Kummer said "that sucks."

Kummer's behaviour didn't seem to change on March 15, 2009, Marshall's best friend Matt Bartoch testified.

He was at Psaila's house and spoke on the phone with Kummer, who was still in the hospital. "He was quiet, unremorseful and not that talkative," Bartoch said, adding he couldn't make out a lot. "He never apologized once."

Kummer told him he couldn't speak loudly because a police officer was guarding his room. He said his leg was "messed up."

He told Bartoch he was "going to get out of it and that it is going to be over soon and he wants to move on."

Skowronski also learned Kummer had been involved in a previous bizarre crash in October 2007.

Czerkawski said Kummer was convicted of careless driving and failing to report an accident for driving on a London International Airport runway. He'd been at a wedding at Forest City National golf course and told police later he had only drank two beers and one vodka. He had also been taking allergy medication.

The SUV had been driven at about 100 km/h down the runway and rolled into the grass, but not before it launched into the air and sheared off an antennae and runway lights. Total damage was $127,000. Kummer left the SUV there and walked through the terminal. An Air Canada employee said he looked dishevelled and intoxicated and his suit was "messed up." He was slurring and staggering and "he didn't know where he was."

He got in a cab and left. The next morning, he told police he was tired at the wedding and when he left, he fell asleep.

He woke up after the crash and didn't know where he was.

He was fined and his parents spoke to him about the dangers of drinking and driving.

The sentencing continues March 26.

I think that this man committed a horrible act and 3 people lost their lives, but I feel that he should be sentenced to 12 years in prison and should have to attend alcohol counseling and include a lifetime driving prohibition.