Crown suggests Sabastian Prosa's testimony not credible
The Crown cast doubt on the testimony offered by accused drunk driver Sabastian Prosa as closing arguments got underway at his trial on Thursday.
Prosa faces 12 charges in connection with a deadly crash that occurred when he drove the wrong way on Highway 427 in the early hours of Aug. 5, 2012.
The crash left Jayantha Wijeratne, 49, and his 16-year-old daughter, Eleesha, dead. Antonette Wijeratne, the wife and mother of the deceased, survived the crash but spent months in hospital recovering from her injuries.
Prosa's blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit, according to an agreed statement of facts that have been entered in court.
But Prosa has testified that he doesn't remember the event and that he believes someone had slipped a drug in his drink at a nightclub before the crash.
During closing arguments on Thursday, the Crown argued that Prosa was not a credible witness and suggested there is no evidence that the accused suffers from amnesia.
Prosa's lawyer, Alan Gold, however, contends the Crown has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Prosa knowingly ingested whatever intoxicant was responsible for him consciously getting behind the wheel and driving the wrong way on the highway.
It is the Crown's point of view that even if Prosa had unknowingly ingested a spiked drink, he still chose to get behind the wheel of his vehicle once he knew he was impaired.
Potential lost evidence
On Thursday, Gold argued that the judge should throw out all the charges against his client.
That's because the defence says it was unable to test Prosa's blood for any drugs because when the Centre of Forensic Sciences sent his sample to an independent lab, the test tube leaked before it reached its destination.
"A potential piece of evidence that could have provided evidence of what was in my client's blood has been lost. It's serious enough for a stay," Gold said Thursday.
Prosa has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges, which include two counts of impaired driving causing death.
The Crown did not finish its closing arguments on Thursday. They will continue in court next month.
