Vancouver park commissioner to plead guilty to drunk driving
Last Updated: Thursday, September 3, 2009 | 2:22 PM PT
CBC News
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Vancouver Park Board commissioner Constance Barnes will plead guilty to three charges relating to a drunk driving crash in May. (CBC) Vancouver Park Board commissioner Constance Barnes will plead guilty to three charges relating to drinking and driving and be sentenced in provincial court later this month.
Barnes crashed her car into a home in South Vancouver after falling asleep at the wheel on May 23.
The commissioner was not in court on Thursday morning, but her lawyer Natalie Dunbar and the Crown prosecutor told the provincial court judge they were close to an agreement regarding sentencing on three charges: impaired driving; having a blood-alcohol level over .08; and dangerous driving.
Since the crash Barnes has joined Alcoholics Anonymous and received treatment at a drug and alcohol treatment facility on Bowen Island, her lawyer said.
Barnes is the daughter of the late Emery Barnes, who was one of the first two black MLAs elected in B.C. in 1972 and the first black elected Speaker of any provincial legislature in 1994.
Following her arrest Barnes announced she was taking a medical leave of absence from her position but would not resign from her position on the park board.
Corrections and Clarifications
- Emery Barnes was not the first elected Speaker in B.C., as this story previously stated. He became the the first black Speaker of any provincial legislature in 1994. Sept. 4, 2002 | 2:30 p.m. PT
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