VANCOUVER — A new trial has been ordered for a southeastern B.C. man after the province's highest court overturned a judicial stay of proceedings in a case of criminal negligence causing death.
The stay was entered last year after a B.C. Supreme Court judge found the charter rights of Kyle Neidig were violated when RCMP ordered the destruction of a Chevrolet Blazer involved in a June 2010 crash.
Neidig was in the Blazer near Jaffray, southeast of Cranbrook, when it rolled, tossing 23-year-old Ian Shepherd from the vehicle and killing him.
Neidig faced three charges, including criminal negligence and impaired driving causing death, but his lawyers argued destruction of the Blazer halted all opportunities to prove who was driving.
The B.C. Court of Appeal agrees the trial judge correctly ruled destruction of the vehicle was unacceptable negligence by the RCMP.
But in granting the Crown's appeal and ordering a new trial, the high court says that considering the other evidence available, failure to preserve the vehicle did not cause irreparable harm to a fair hearing for Neidig.
