Appeal granted for man convicted of killing two people in 2016 crash near Young, Sask.
An appeal has been granted and a new trial ordered for a man found guilty of killing two and seriously injuring another in a 2016 crash near Young, Sask.
Kiel Stewart was given a six-year sentence in February 2019 after being found guilty of impaired driving, dangerous driving, impaired driving causing death and other charges.
Stewart was allegedly behind the wheel of a Mercedes sedan that crashed at a high speed, killing Adam Powell and Brett Busse, and injuring David McCarthy.
The Court of Appeal's decision to grant the appeal was based on a discrepancy of when and where witnesses saw the Mercedes and when those witnesses called 911 to report what they had seen.
The Court of Appeal said the verdict was unreasonable because "the trial judge made findings of fact which were incompatible with evidence that she neither contradicted nor rejected."
"I agree with that submission and would accordingly quash the convictions and order a new trial," wrote Justice Brian Barrington-Foote in the decision.
Stewart's defence argued no evidence was presented during the trial about whether Stewart was driving the vehicle when it crashed.
Stewart had argued during the first trial that he had changed places in the car with McCarthy before the vehicle crashed.
His lawyer had argued witnesses were unable to identify who was driving the car and first responders found Stewart in the back of the vehicle.
When questioned at the time, Stewart told paramedics he was in the back seat of the car when it crashed. McCarthy told police he didn't know who was driving the vehicle.
The Crown argued that, based on the evidence she had accepted, the trial judge found it unlikely there was time for Stewart and McCarthy to trade places in the car before it crashed.
That decision was based on the time 911 calls were made and a time stamp on video evidence that showed Stewart entering the vehicle when it left the Watrous Bar.
Young, Sask., is about 75 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.
