Emily Bernauer death leads to 11 charges under liquor act
In a rare move, Ontario Liquor Licence Act charges have been laid against Sobeys in Amherstburg, Ont., and five members of the Shores of Erie Wine Festival board, months after a teenage girl who had worked at the popular event died in a single-car rollover.
Amherstburg police have laid a total of 11 charges in connection with the crash that killed Emily Bernauer, 18, on Sept. 6, 2014.
The car Bernauer was driving left the road, hit a mailbox and rolled over on Concession 2 North, in Amherstburg, a town located about 31 kilometres south of Windsor, Ont.
The teen was partially ejected from the vehicle.
Of the 11 charges, 10 are against five board members of the Shores of Erie Wine Festival and one charge against Sobeys Amherstburg, Bernauer's employer that night.
Charges under the Liquor Licence Act of Ontario include:
- Knowingly supplying alcohol to a person under 19.
- Permitting a minor to have alcohol.
- Failing to inspect identification of a person who appears to be under 19.
The accused, who have not been identified, are scheduled to appear in provincial court in Windsor on March 9 to answer to the charges.
CBC News spoke with Sobeys Amherstburg manager Rennie Rota, who referred all questions to Andrew Bradie, a Windsor lawyer. He has not returned a request for a comment.
Sobeys is listed as a sponsor of the Erie Shores Wine Festival.
Police list factors in crash
A police investigation conducted in September determined texting while driving was a factor in the crash that killed Bernauer, who was also not wearing a seatbelt.
On Wednesday, police said toxicology results showed the teen also had alcohol and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — a chemical compound found in marijuana — in her system at the time of the crash.
"It was a lengthy investigation," said Senior Const. Shawn McCurdy. "We're being open and transparent about the investigation. Unfortunately, things like toxicology take a long time to get results back."
Police said the substances were also determined to be contributing factors in the crash.
Family disputes police findings
In a media release issued by the law firm Paciocco and Mellow, which is representing the Bernauer family, lawyers dispute that THC was a factor in the crash.
"Post mortem toxicology results identified the presence of alcohol and tetrahydrocannabinol in Emily's system at the time of the accident. The coroner's investigation statement lists alcohol use as a contributing factor to the accident. It does not reference the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol as a contributing factor. In this respect, the media release of the Amherstburg Police Service was inaccurate. The Amherstburg Police Service had access to the coroner's investigation file prior to their media release of March 4, 2015."
The family's lawyer also said an investigation shows "that Emily was provided with and consumed alcohol at the Shores of Erie Wine Festival while working at a booth provided by Sobeys Amherstburg."
How teen got alcohol unknown
The five festival board members are being represented by Windsor lawyer Patrick Ducharme.
Ducharme must show his clients did everything reasonable to ensure that the underaged Bernauer did not consume alcohol.
"I feel comfortable with the information I have to be able to do that," said Ducharme. "They did their job, that people were only permitted to receive alcohol if they had given identification and received an armband that would identify them as such."
It isn't known at this time how Bernauer got the alcohol, whether it was from a vendor or not.
"It may be that she was let in, not anybody expecting that she would ever consume alcohol, and she may have received alcohol from someone or places that had nothing to do with the festival," said Ducharme. "It may have been she was drinking alcohol at some other place at some other time with some other people. We will have to look at the evidence very carefully to see what connection can be made, if any."
Charges 'unusual,' lawyer says
Ducharme said that it was unusual for board members of an event like the wine festival to be charged in a case like this.
"I've been practising law for more than three decades and I can tell you that I've only seen on a couple of occasions where licensees are charged with serving liquor or alcohol to somebody under the age of 19," he said. "It doesn't happen that often.
"Sometimes in bars, you know, liquor licence inspectors might go in and fine people in the premises that they think are underage and they check and they have phoney identification or something. It will happen in that setting, but not usually in this setting," he said.
