Eric Gosse will have to wait several weeks to find out whether he is guilty or innocent of any charges levelled after his SUV hit a motorcycle at Ogden Point in 2013.
Final submissions in Gosse’s judge-alone B.C. Supreme Court trial wrapped up Thursday. Justice Jennifer Power set March 23 as the tentative date for delivering her decision.
Gosse is charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon — his vehicle. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The case arose after Gosse collided with a motorcycle ridden by Ron Broda. Broda, a former Saanich police officer, had to have his left leg amputated below the knee and suffered a number of other injuries.
Defence lawyer Peter Firestone said the collision was an accident, while Crown prosecutor Clare Jennings said it was either intentional or Gosse created such a risk with his driving that he should be found criminally negligent.
Firestone said no motive has emerged in the case. “When we look at intent, we usually look at reasons why things happen,” he said. Gosse’s driving just before the crash should be considered “momentary inattention” rather than something more serious.
The fact that street-view cameras show the SUV and the motorcycle in the same area prior to their arrival at Ogden Point does not provide any meaningful information, Firestone said, calling it “total coincidence” that the SUV and the motorcycle collided later.
Jennings disagreed, saying Gosse and Broda would surely have been aware of each other on the road.
A collision analyst put the SUV’s minimum speed at 50 to 57 kilometres an hour at the time of the collision, while the SUV’s crash-data recorder indicated the speed increased to 66 from 50 km/h leading up to the crash.
Firestone allowed that Gosse was speeding in the 30 km/h zone where the collision occurred, but said that didn’t constitute criminal negligence or dangerous driving.
He said he does not accept specific speeds that were put forward at trial, and said an expert should have been brought in to asses the accuracy of the crash-data recorder.
