Breathalyzer result not admissible in case involving death of N.B. girl, 14
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 | 4:46 PM AT
CBC News
Alexander Beers leaves a Moncton court after a judge ruled a breathalyzer test was not admissible in his impaired driving case. (CBC)A Moncton judge has tossed out breathalyzer test results at the centre of an impaired driving case that involved the death of a 14-year-old girl in 2007.
Judge George Rideout ruled on Tuesday that Alexander Beers's breathalyzer test results are not admissible in court after his lawyer argued last week that he was bullied by police into taking the test.
However, the judge denied a request for a stay of proceedings.
Beers, 20, is accused of fatally striking Satara Steeves who was walking along Ryan Road in the summer of 2007.
There was an audible gasp from Steeves's family when the decision was read in the Moncton courtroom.
Beers and his family left quickly through a side door.
Outside the court, Steeves' family said they are devastated by the judge's ruling.
"Horrible, horrible message. Terrible. And it sends a bad message to us [that] our girl didn't matter. She didn't matter to them," said Annette Steeves, Satara's mother.
Alain Wright, Satara's uncle, also left the courtroom questioning the rationale of the decision.
"Poor Satara, she's laying in a country cemetery and what's she going to become — another statistic?" he said.
"Are people just going to forget about her? Well, we're not going to forget about her and I don't know what we are going to have to do but we're going to keep going at this thing we don't know which way to go right now."
The Steeves family say they are not sure if there will be enough evidence to go ahead with a trial.
The trial for Beers was supposed to start on June 11.
RCMP accused of intimidation
Rideout heard arguments in court last week. Beers said he phoned Yves Robichaud, a legal aid lawyer, from the scene and explained what had happened.
Robichaud had testified he explained his options to Beers and advised him not to take the breathalyzer test. On that advice, Beers told police he wasn't taking the test.
He said Sgt. Jeffrey Johnston told him he would face charges for refusing the test and the consequences would be similar to the impaired driving causing death charges. Beers said he was confused, so the police offered to call the legal aid lawyer back.
Robichaud, who had only been in the job for 11 months, said Johnston told him he was counselling an offence by telling his client not to take the test and that he would be investigated for his actions. At that point, Robichaud changed his advice and told Beers to take the breathalyzer test as requested by the police.
Johnston denied the claim that he intimidated the lawyer.
