SASKATOON — An appeal has been dismissed in an impaired driving case where a Saskatoon girl was killed.
The case involves nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice, who died in 2021 after being hit by a truck while walking her scooter along a crosswalk.
Taylor Kennedy of Saskatoon was charged with impaired driving exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC, as well as causing death.
In December 2024, Justice Jane Wootten stayed the charges and ruled the woman was not tried within a reasonable time as required by Canadian law.
Matters at Canadian provincial courts must conclude within 18 months, but Wootten determined Kennedy's matter took about 24 months.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal announced on April 10 that a requested appeal in the case has been dismissed.
In the report's conclusion, it indicated the judge made two errors in her calculation of what was a reasonable time for Kennedy’s trial to conclude. The judge should have made an allowance of 120 days, to account for the COVID-19 pandemic. The judge should also have attributed an additional 14 days as
defence delay because of counsel unavailability.
However, even accounting for these matters which would remove a further 134 days from the period of delay under consideration, the total time to conclude Kennedy’s trial still significantly exceeded what is allowable under the Charter.
As has been noted, the Crown agrees that, if Kennedy’s right to be tried within a reasonable time was breached, the charge against her was properly stayed. Accordingly, the Crown’s appeal must be dismissed.
– With files from The Canadian Press and Jon Perez
