Evading Justice

It is difficult to credit in a country like Canada with its guarantees of equality and justice that someone with money to burn in a deliberate effort to escape the consequences of her cavalier
decision to drink to excess then drive her vehicle on a public roadway is able to sidestep responsibility and justice. Yet this is precisely what is occurring in the case of the Crown versus Pembroke dentist Christy Natsis.

Away back on March 31, 2011 this woman, in a severely inebriated state, drove her SUV on Highway 17 close to Arnprior, Ontario, in such a manner that she crashed headlong into a truck driven by Brian Casey, killing him. Ms. Natsis was charged with impaired driving causing death, driving with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit, and dangerous driving causing death. She has denied guilt and responsibility.

Court evidence photo QMI Agency This court evidence photo from the trial of Pembroke dentist Christy Natsis shows the fatal accident scene on Hwy. 417 near Arnprior just after 8 p.m. on March 31, 2011. Natsis is charged with impaired driving causing death. Bryan Casey of Ottawa died in the crash.

And she has a team of high-priced lawyers to 'prove' her non-guilt in the matter. Witnesses at the scene of the crash described her as appearing clearly inebriated. Apart from seeming to be disinterested in the condition of the man whose truck she had crashed into, and demanding medical attention for herself despite that she was not injured, she was driven by an investigating OPP officer who charged her with drunk driving, to hospital.

During the initial stages of the trial observers had stated that they had seen her to be incapable of walking on her own in a normal manner. That her face, voice and her eyes betrayed a state of incapacity. The clear impression was left that she was under the influence of alcohol, a self-absorbed, querulous woman with the attitude of 'do you know who I am?'. At the hospital, she was given freedom to isolate herself in a washroom and speak for almost an hour, lying on the washroom floor, to a lawyer.

The OPP officer became impatient at the long wait, finally interrupting the interminable conversation, to escort Ms. Natsis to a waiting breathalyzer test administered by a medical professional who found her blood to be two and a half times over the legal limit for the presence of alcohol. When she had left the drinking establishment before the accident occurred, she was seen by witnesses to have pulled away in her Ford Expedition, backing into another car, then careening off toward the highway.

Yet her lawyers succeeded in persuading the presiding justice that her legal rights had been impaired by the arresting officer, and the breathalyzer results were thrown out. Her lawyers have cast doubt on the veracity and professionalism of every witness that appeared for the Crown, including the OPP collision investigator who testified that Ms. Natsis's Ford had crossed the centre line to hit Mr. Casey's Dodge Dakota pickup truck head-on, causing the massive internal injuries that killed Mr. Casey.

Court evidence photos from the trial of Pembroke dentist Christy Natsis show the fatal accident scene in the WB lane of Hwy. 417 near Arnprior just after 8 p.m.. on March 31, 2011. Natsis is charged with impaired driving causing death. Bryan Casey of Ottawa died in the crash. Court evidence photos.

The lawyers, at Ms. Natsis's behest, are earning their stiff fees by seeking to have the charges against her stayed. They argue the OPP lost or destroyed evidence compiled by the collision investigator reconstructing the crash scene, that had been in draft form. This trial has been two years in the process of seeking justice. One prolonged delay after another has been agreed to, and justice has not been done. It now represents the longest-ever such trial on record.

Yet another prolonged delay has been announced in this drunk driving trial. The trial that began in November 2012 is now destined to resume into spring of 2014 at the very earliest. Giving additional opportunity to the legal team defending this woman for whom 'entitlements' far surpass those of most other Canadians, to claim that her rights to a fair trial have been severely compromised by the lengthy delays that they themselves have been responsible for.