A Court of King’s Bench Justice has outlined her reasons for convicting a woman of manslaughter in an incident that happened in the Breton area.
Bronwyn Hannah Jane Luckham was convicted in April of this year on charges relating to the death of Jonathan James Paul in 2021. Last week Justice Tamara Friesen released written reasons for her decision, which she said might be useful to the Crown and defence when preparing arguments prior to sentencing.
Shortly after 8 p.m. Monday August 30 2021 a man was dropped off at the Drayton Valley hospital suffering from serious injuries, from which he later died. The victim was able to provide some information prior to his death, saying that he had been hit by a vehicle. He was identified as Jonathan James Paul, 40, of Calgary.
At trial Friesen heard evidence that Paul had been in a relationship with Luckham. The pair were both working at a rural acreage near Breton. The Crown alleged that Luckham was angry with Paul for a variety of reasons, both business and personal. The prosecution argued that Luckham deliberately struck Paul with a Dodge Durango intending to kill him, “or in the alternative, intending to cause him bodily harm that she knew was so serious and dangerous he would likely die of his injuries, thus committing either murder or manslaughter.”
Meanwhile Luckham said that she was under duress at the time and had been trying to escape from Paul who had subjected her to an escalating cycle of abuse.
After hearing the evidence, Friesen found Luckham not guilty of second degree murder, but guilty of manslaughter. Under Canadian law manslaughter occurs where a person causes the death of another human being “by means of an unlawful act” or “by criminal negligence.”
At trial the court heard from several witnesses, including Luckham, who testified on her own behalf. There was also video evidence from motion activated cameras at the scene. Part of that video, as described by Justice Friesen, showed Paul rolling on the ground as the Durango drove over him.
Luckham and Paul had been involved in an altercation and the hood of the Durango was up at the time.
Defence counsel argued that it was necessary for Luckham to step on the accelerator and drive the way she did because she was trying to escape from Paul and thought her life was in danger.
Friesen noted that “a reasonable driver in the same circumstances as Luckham would not have started the SUV and then pressed down on the accelerator while the hood was up, visibility was poor, and they knew, at a minimum, that another person was in front of, or close to, the path of the SUV.”
“When she struck Paul, Luckham’s manner of driving was therefore a marked departure from the standard of care a reasonable driver would have observed in the same or similar circumstances,” wrote Friesen.
“I find Luckham’s behaviour in failing to provide adequate support and assistance to Paul while he lay in the grass screaming in agony to be morally reprehensible. The surveillance videos are extremely disturbing. However … I accept that neither Luckham nor Paul thought Paul was going to die from his injuries.”
Friesen also noted that Luckham had ultimately assisted Paul in getting into a vehicle, had driven him to the Drayton Valley Hospital and followed up with the hospital to ensure they knew he was there and would assist him.
“The facts established that Luckham’s dangerous driving …, combined with the objective foreseeability that the risk of bodily harm to Paul was neither trivial nor transitory, resulted in his death,” she concluded. “The Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that … Luckham committed the offence of unlawful act of manslaughter.”
