A judge has found a 21-year-old man guilty of all charges including impaired driving causing death in a fatal car crash that left two people dead and one seriously injured. Sabastian Prosa had admitted to having a
blood-alcohol level around twice the legal limit when he sped the wrong
way down Hwy. 427 on Aug. 5, 2012, crashing head-on into a minivan
carrying Jayantha Wijeratne, 49, his wife, Antonette, and their
16-year-old daughter, Eleesha. Jayantha and Eleesha were killed and Antonette severely injured. Prosa, who was 19 at the time and also injured
in the crash, faced 12 charges including impaired driving causing death
and criminal negligence causing death.........When Prosa testified in his own defence, he
said he could not remember most of the night, including how he got to a
downtown Toronto bar and how he ended up behind the wheel of his SUV on
the highway. The defence argued that Prosa may have had his
drink spiked at a downtown nightclub but his blood was not tested for
date rape drugs such as GHB. A blood-alcohol level of 148 milligrams to 173
milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (the legal limit is
80 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood) is not high enough to explain his
“bizarre and purposeless driving behaviour,” the defence argued. However, Justice Glen Hainey, found Prosa’s
testimony not credible or reliable and rejected his testimony about
having a total memory loss between drinking at the bar and waking up in
the hospital after the crash. Though Prosa was adamant he drank four shots
at a friend’s house, he could recall no other details such as what he
drank, where he got it or what time it was, Hainey said. Under oath for a
civil proceedings three months before he testified, Prosa maintained he
only had two drinks. “He appeared to be evasive and had a selective
memory,” Hainey said “I find he was tailoring his evidence to support
his defence of involuntary intoxication.”.........Despite the “unacceptable negligence” of
scientists at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in failing to properly
pack the blood sample, Hainey found Prosa could still support his
defence."
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/06/26/man-guilty-in-drunk-driving-crash-that-killed-two.html