Prince Albert Provincial Court. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
A Prince Albert judge is taking time to decide whether or not to grant bail to a man accused of an impaired driving hit and run on Big River First Nation.
Police statements read out at Colt Morin’s Friday bail hearing lay out graphic witness accounts of events that occurred about half a kilometre from Big River First Nation’s school on April 9. None of the statements have yet been proven in court.
The witness statements, which were read out by Crown prosecutor Gail Douglas, say a group of five kids – all siblings – were walking home after playing soccer at the school. It was dark, around 9 p.m., and they were in the ditch when a car swerved in at them.
From a number of the kids’ statements, it seemed the driver of the white car was trying to “bump” them, but the car didn’t slow down and it sent an 11-year-old girl flying before “flooring it” and driving off.
One boy saw the car coming and was able to push a different girl out of the way, court heard, and another boy was clipped by the car’s side view mirror, which broke off.
STARS air ambulance was called in to bring the girl to hospital for her serious injuries, which her father had said included “brain damage,” according to Crown prosecutor Gail Douglas. She spoke while Morin, 20, listened via video link from the Prince Albert Correctional Centre.
When police arrived, Douglas detailed, the girl was on the ground bleeding from the ears with her mother present.
Police blocked off the area and were approached by a four-door white car that had been swerving all over the road. The driver was “grossly intoxicated” according to a statement from the constable present, and police asked a passenger to drive instead – Morin and alleged passenger Sheldon Bear’s statements affirmed they had approached the area in a white car that night.
Court heard that in the following days, community members had already started laying blame on a number of people, and Morin was one of them.
When police tracked down Morin at his grandmother’s home, he gave a warned statement saying he had been driving after drinking with his mother Elizabeth Joseph and Bear that night, Douglas said.
Quotes from Morin’s statement include him saying he was not going to lie, he “knew I had hit something” and that he “heard the bump. It sounds like a rock.” He said he and others didn’t talk about it after and “everybody just went back into party mode.”
Bear told police when he realized what the bump was, he “felt sick” and asked to be driven home.
Both Morin and Bear’s statements said they hadn’t gone to police because they were “scared.”
Defence lawyer Mary McAuley said she anticipates a lengthy trial where she will raise Charter issues to dispute whether a number of statements were provided voluntarily and the identification of Morin as the driver.
For now, it’s up to the judge to decide if McAuley’s release plan to live with his grandmother on the reserve, accompanied by electronic monitoring and strict conditions, is enough to grant bail. A large number of Morin’s family members were present in court, and McAuley said they’re all prepared to support him in the community.
The strength case Douglas laid out will factor into the decision, as will her points relating to a lack of confidence that court conditions will keep Morin from getting behind the wheel or drinking and that the community’s’ confidence in the courts might be eroded by letting him out, considering he has a history of racking up charges for alleged drunken assaults and a break and enter in the community.
Douglas conceded that none of her arguments applied to the primary grounds for a bail decision.
Judge Kalineth’s bail ruling is set to come down on Tuesday.