A Valemount man has avoided jail time for a deadly, high-speed rollover east of Prince George.
Duane Glen Smith, 44, was sentenced Wednesday to a two-year conditional sentence - effectively house arrest - and was prohibited from driving for the next seven years for a Sept. 11, 2019 crash that cost the life of 21-year-old Dakota Shaw.
Their car went off Highway 16 near the Penny Access Road after hitting speeds of nearly 150 km/h. Shaw, who was 3 1/2 months pregnant at the time, was ejected from the vehicle and later died in hospital.
During a trial that began in November 2021, witnesses testified they saw the car being driven erratically and swerving across the road and even sideswiping another vehicle as the two, who had been a couple for about one-and-a-half years, headed towards McBride from Prince George.
After five days of testimony, Smith pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death with agreement from Crown prosecution. He had also been facing a count of impaired driving causing death after a urine sample taken from Smith four-and-a-half hours after the crash tested positive for methamphetamine, ampthetamine, oxycontin and fentanyl.
Open cans of alcohol were found in the car and Smith admitted they had been drinking at a rest stop prior to the crash. However, a breath sample from Smith measured well below the legal limit for impairment by alcohol.
Smith later admitted to "going way too fast" and that an argument had broken out between him and Shaw.
He had said they had a dog and a kitten sitting unsecured in the back seat and they were creating a distraction. He said the dog had jumped into the front was trying to lick his ear and that somehow the kitten got under his feet. In order to get hold of the kitten, Shaw undid her seatbelt and that's when they spun off the road, according to Smith.
At the time of the crash, a term in jail would have been mandatory for Smith because the offence to which he pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 14 years behind bars. But in December 2021, Parliament amended the Criminal Code to increase the number of offences for which a conditional sentence order can be issued in a bid to reduce the disproportionate number of Indigenous people in Canadian prisons.
Moreover, changes to the Criminal Code that benefit an accused must be applied retroactively.
In reaching her decision, Provincial Court Judge Judith Doulis noted Smith is status Metis and, at the time, had no criminal record although he had previously been issued a ticket for excessive speeding. (In the aftermath, Smith has subsequently been ticketed four more times, variously for excessive speeding, crossing a solid line, failing to obey a traffic sign and failing to wear a seatbelt, leading B.C.'s Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to pull his driver's licence.)
Doulis also noted Smith has had a long-standing addiction to opioids stemming from a logging accident suffered when he was 21 years old that left him functionally deaf (he needed headphones to listen to the judge's decision), blind in one eye and prone to unpredictable outbursts.
Under the terms issued by the judge, Smith will serve his term at his grandfather's home in Valemount where he will wear an electronic monitoring device. While not working, he must remain on the property for the first 18 months, with the exception of two hours in the afternoon on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays and only while in the company of his grandfather. For the remaining six months, Smith will be subject to a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
He must also serve two years probation during which he must report to a probation officer and take any counselling for addictions and mental health issues as directed. Doulis urged Smith to get the help he needs.
Smith is also prohibited from driving during the conditional sentence and for a further five years afterwards.
Other than seeking a seeking a term in jail of two years less credit of 32 days for time in custody prior to sentencing, Crown prosecution's position on sentencing was the same as that of defence counsel.
On whether the sentence she issued is "disproportionately lenient," Doulis said Shaw's death was tragic but no length of sentence will bring her back and noted that Smith is an Indigenous first-time offender, obliging her to give a conditional sentence consideration.
Any violation of the terms could result in time in jail, Doulis warned Smith.
