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Tuesday July 12, 2011 Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
Kaulius family turns grief into action
Drunk driving case tossed over court delays
Parents of crash victim speak out against impaired driving by Dan Ferguson
by Sheila Reynolds A B.C. judge has kicked out a case against an alleged drunk driver in Surrey because it took too long to get the case to trial. A woman was charged in 2009 with one count of impaired driving and one count of operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol level exceeding the legal limit. Though the offence took place Oct. 12, 2009, her first trial date wasn’t until May 9 of this year. It was then that the accused requested a stay of proceedings, arguing her right to be tried within a reasonable time had been violated. In her reasons for judgment last month, Surrey Provincial Court Judge Ellen Judge Rose Raven said that the 14-and-a-half Gordon month delay in the case caused the woman to suffer “significant worry, anxiety, and embarrassment as a result of the charges she is facing, which has been significantly exacerbated by the delay in the trial.” Raven said the woman would suffer even more financial and emotional hardship now that her husband has had to move for work purposes. Not only would she have less help caring for their 13-year-old daughter, but the potential loss of the accused’s driver’s licence would also have a severe impact, said the judge.
Surrey court is the “problem child” of the B.C. justice system.
See JUDGE / Page 3
SURREY COURTHOUSE BACKLOG: Impaired trials double and triple booked, judge says
BOAZ JOSEPH / THE LEADER
As police increase their presence on the roadside in an effort to curb drunk driving, chronic congestion in many B.C. courthouses – especially Surrey’s – is resulting in impaired trials being thrown out due to excessive delays.
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W hat the h eck is PERi PERi? flame-grilled chicken
AS POLICE stopped cars and trucks on both sides of the road, Surrey residents Victor and Markita Kaulius stood in the centre of the overpass that carries 204 Street across the Langley bypass and told reporters about the pain of losing their daughter Kassandra to a suspected drunk driver. It is something beyond words, mother Markita Kaulius said. “We never, ever expected anything like this to happen to our family.” Father Victor Kaulius said they were speaking out in the hope of preventing further anguish for other families. “I don’t want to see another brother, sister, hus- Kassandra band, wife, mother, Kaulius father go through what we’re going through.” Their daughter, 22-year-old Kassandra Kaulius, was struck and killed by a vehicle believed to have been driven by an impaired driver on May 3. In the weeks since, the grieving parents have called for minimum sentences for drinking and driving offences. See POLICE / Page 3
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