A Kelowna driver whose truck killed one pedestrian and injured another person three years ago won‘t be going to a federal penitentiary.
As a sentencing hearing got underway in Kelowna provincial court on Friday, Crown counsel David Grabavac asked for three to five years in penitentiary for Damian De Ciantis, plus a five- to seven-year driving ban for the 33-year-old.
His Kelowna lawyer, Grant Gray, noted: “We are, to say the least, at opposite ends of the spectrum.”
It was estimated the sentencing hearing would take one hour, but after three hours of presentations, it was agreed another half-day was needed. On Tuesday, the rest of the hearing will be scheduled.
Gray told Judge Anne Wallace he had another eight noteworthy cases to review, but she made it clear she didn‘t have to hear the details of every case.
Some or most of the Crown‘s list of noteworthy cases involved drivers who had consumed alcohol and had extensive criminal or driving records, which was not the same for De Ciantis.
Wallace made it clear she was looking at provincial time – any sentence less than two years, but she had not decided whether it would be served in a provincial jail or in the community as a conditional sentence.
“I‘ll put your mind at ease, sir. You‘re not going to the pen,” Wallace told De Ciantis.
De Ciantis was changing lanes at excessive speed as he drove north on Benvoulin Road in heavy traffic after dark on Feb. 21, 2007. His Toyota pickup slammed into the pedestrians as they travelled on the northbound shoulder with their backs to him.
The impact killed Kim Black, a man in his 50s, and injured his best friend Russell Leon in a wheelchair scooter as they walked and rode along the shoulder with another friend. The truck sent Black 75 metres and hospitalized Leon, who suffered a broken shoulder, leg and pelvis.
During a trial late last year, Wallace convicted him of dangerous driving causing death, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm. Gray is considering an appeal of the convictions.
