Dangerous driving sentencing hearing delayed a second time
Todd Lambert was supposed to be sentenced Friday for dangerous driving causing death.
In 2016, Lambert had smoked marijuana and got behind the wheel, according to an agreed statement of facts signed in November 2017.
While driving, he had a seizure and his car rammed into the SUV of 43-year-old Natalie Hawkins, who later died in hospital.
On Friday, the Bruderheim man fired his lawyer, who told the judge Lambert wanted to change his earlier guilty plea.
"I do not wish to go forward with this," Lambert told Court of Queen's Bench Justice James Neilson. "It is not what I agreed to at all. It is the same thing I'm stuck with, with this lawyer and my previous lawyer."
Lambert fired his first lawyer last September. The judge gave him time to find new counsel and rescheduled the sentencing hearing.
On Friday, the judge allowed Lance McClean to withdraw as counsel because of irreconcilable differences.
The latest delay upsets Hawkins' family members.
"It's the same story every time," said Hawkins mother, Hilda Hawkins. "Getting tired of it. It's very frustrating."
The victim's twin sister agreed.
"We just want justice for her," Nicole Hawkins said outside court on Friday. "I think she has the right to rest in peace and I don't think she's able to do that until we get that guilty verdict and he goes to jail for what he's done."
The judge apologized to the family members for what he described as a "most unfortunate" delay.
Lambert was not supposed to be driving on May 20, 2016, as his driving privileges had been revoked because he suffered seizures, the statement of facts said.
That day, after smoking marijuana, Lambert got into his Mercedes C240 and had a seizure while driving.
RCMP spotted him speeding along Highway 15.
"Witnesses also observed his vehicle traveling in excess of 150 km/h in a 70-km/h zone, as well as driving through an intersection while facing a red light," the court document said.
Lambert's car slammed into the back of the SUV Hawkins was driving.
When struck, Hawkins was only seconds away from the Fort Saskatchewan home she and her family have been renting since fleeing the Fort McMurray wildfire.
According to an accident reconstruction report, Lambert's car had reached 200 km/h just before impact.
When RCMP searched Lambert at the scene, they found 2.4 grams of marijuana.
Lambert has been given until Wednesday to file an application to strike his guilty plea.
He will be self-represented.
