Appeal denied for woman convicted of striking girl in Saanich crosswalk
A woman who was convicted of crashing into a young girl at a crosswalk in Saanich, B.C., in December 2017 has had her appeal denied.
In 2020, Tenessa Nikirk was found guilty of dangerous driving for a crash that left 11-year-old Leila Bui with traumatic brain injuries.
During the trial, the court heard that Nikirk was speeding, passing vehicles, and texting before the crash occurred.
Two weeks after sentencing, Nikirk filed an appeal of her conviction and was released on bail until her appeal hearing was complete.
The hearing began in mid-January, and on Tuesday, a B.C. judge denied Nikirk's appeal, which was based on factors such as reaction time, credibility of witnesses and experts who testified during trial, and if she was manually texting at the time.
"Ms. Nikirk’s theory on appeal, in summary, is that the verdict was unreasonable because the child could have been hidden from Ms. Nikirk’s view until the child ran into the crosswalk, at which point it was too late for Ms. Nikirk to react," reads the appeal ruling written by Madam Justice Susan Griffin.
Griffin found that while it is conceivable that Bui entered the crosswalk before an average driver would have had time to react, the fact that Nikirk was speeding before and at the time of the crash demonstrated a failure to observe obvious cues to use caution around a crosswalk.
The appeal judge also found that it was irrelevant if Nikirk was manually texting or using another method since the "sheer number and frequency of texts" sent around the time of the crash meant her thoughts were elsewhere at the time.
"This case serves as a very sad cautionary tale that texting while driving can ruin lives," wrote Griffin.
"In my view, the inference from all the evidence is compelling: that Ms. Nikirk was texting with someone repeatedly and was driving distractedly and impatiently and that this was part of a dangerous pattern of driving that led to her driving at full speed into a child in the crosswalk."
In December 2020, the then-24-year-old Nikirk was sentenced to two years in a federal penitentiary and is banned from driving for three years upon her release.
With her appeal dismissed Tuesday, she is required to surrender herself today to begin serving her sentence.
During the trial, Crown described Bui's injuries as "catastrophic," including a permanent brain injury, a broken neck and a ruptured spleen.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.