COLLISION - DETERMINING WHO WAS DRIVING - "MYSTERIOUS" OTHER DRIVER DEFENCE REJECTED
Sunday, September 21, 2014 at 6:53PM First responders, and later police, arrived at vehicle roll over scene. Mr. Polley was found lying on the ground, some 60 feet away from the vehicle. Another man was seen getting out of the vehicle, bloodied and shaken, but able to stand. Mr. Polley was charged with impaired driving and other offences. He was convicted at trial and his appeal was upheld. He did not testify, but his "theory" was that a mysterious "third man" was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash. That theory was rejected:
None of the witnesses who testified at trial ever said there were more than two occupants inside the van. On this record it would have been sheer speculation and error on the part of the trial judge to have acquitted Mr. Polley on the basis that some mysterious, unidentified and unaccounted for “third man” was at the wheel when the van left the highway. R. v. Polley, 2014 NSCA 71