Our client was driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood when he made a wrong turn down a major roadway. Two eye witnesses said that it looked like our client had been speeding and using his cell phone while driving. Our client failed to stop at a red light and T-boned another vehicle. The other driver initially seemed as if she was not injured, but she suffered a debilitating stroke later that night. When our client was interviewed by police, he said that he thought he had been driving the speed limit and he denied having used his cell phone - rather, he had been trying to re-orient himself by checking the cross-street signs, which is what distracted him from the light changing in the moments before the accident. Our client was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Defence counsel investigated the case by checking the Google "street view" images, visiting the intersection with a private investigator, and re-creating the accident using the available crash data seized from our client's vehicle and the data from his cell phone. We discovered that at the time of the accident, there was no evidence that his cell phone was being used, there were no speed limit signs posted in that area, and a hydro pole almost completely blocked the cross-street sign that our client had been trying to read. The matter proceeded to a five-day trial. Our client testified in his own defence. In the end, the judge found that our client had not been using his phone, that his speed was not a contributing factor, and that his distraction by the blocked cross-street sign was not a "marked departure" from the standard of care of a reasonable driver.
RESULT: Our client was found not guilty.