The trial for a woman involved in a multi-vehicle collision two years ago, in which a pedestrian was killed, began Monday at the Courtenay courthouse.
Serina Laliberte is facing nine charges, including impaired driving causing death, causing an accident resulting in death, dangerous driving causing death, two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, two counts of causing an accident resulting in bodily harm and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in supreme court this week.
She has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges.
On July 26, 2016, a car travelling in the northbound lane on Cliffe Avenue struck a pedestrian, proceeded to hit two other vehicles near the intersection and then crashed into parked cars in a nearby parking lot.
The male 71-year-old pedestrian was rushed to hospital, along with the drivers of two other vehicles stopped at the intersection of Cliffe Avenue and 26 Street.
The Comox Valley RCMP Municipal Traffic Section, Comox Valley RCMP General Investigation Section, the Integrated Collision and Reconstruction Services and the BC Coroners Service were involved in the investigation.
At the beginning of the trial, RCMP Sgt. Brian Nightingale told the court at the time of the accident, the day was sunny as the temperature hovered around 30 C, and the road conditions were dry.
Crown attorney Richard Ellsay asked Nightingale, based on evidence at the scene, if Laliberte’s Nissan SUV showed any indication of braking, which he replied it did not.
Laliberte, wearing a blue top, looked stoically ahead in the prisoner’s box as Nightingale provided his testimony Tuesday, as well as when he was under cross-examination by defence counsellor Eric Chesterley.
Nightingale confirmed the total length of the crash scene once the vehicle came to a rest in a nearby parking lot was 261 metres.
The trial is set to conclude Friday, Sept. 14.
