Charges could be stayed in fatal Delta crash

A B.C. provincial court judge will rule Wednesday on a motion to stay the charges against a woman charged with the impaired driving death of a four-year-old girl in Delta, B.C.

The lawyer for accused Carol Berner argued Tuesday that because Berner's car was sold for parts before he had a chance to examine it, the charges against his client should be stayed.

The Crown alleges that Berner, 57, was impaired and driving dangerously when her car left a rural road in Ladner, B.C., south of Vancouver, killing Alexa Middelaer and seriously injuring her aunt, Daphne Johanson, in May 2008.

"In order to mount a full, a proper defence, we were unable to because the car was disposed of months before Ms. Berner was ever charged," Tarnow told the court.

The Crown argued Tuesday that Berner agreed to have her car sold for scrap by the Insurance Corporation of B.C. months after the incident.

The prosecutor said Berner had sufficient time to have the car independently examined to determine if the car had mechanical problems that might have contributed to the accident, but she chose not to.

But Berner's lawyer, David Tarnow, said there is no proof that his client actually received notice that the car would be junked.

Last week at the trial, an undercover policewoman testified she spent three months befriending Berner in an attempt to videotape Berner confessing to driving while impaired.

Earlier in the trial, the judge allowed the results of a breathalyzer test taken at the scene to be included as evidence, because the officer said Berner admitted she drank two glasses of wine before the officer decided to test her.