The BC Prosecution Service is appealing the not-guilty verdict for a man charged in a tragic crash that killed a Vancouver child.
Seyed Moshfeghi Zadeh was acquitted of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm on April 9 after a three-day judge-alone trial in B.C. Provincial Court.
Lawyer Kyla Lee, who is not connected to the case, said the mens rea, or criminal intent, for dangerous driving in Canadian law is that a person’s driving is a marked departure from the standard of a reasonably prudent driver.
“The Crown is saying that the trial judge applied too low of a standard in determining that dangerous driving hadn’t occurred,” Lee told Global News in an interview Tuesday.
“And in saying that running a red light was not a marked departure, that was the wrong legal analysis and the trial judge placed too much emphasis effectively on the fact that there was no pattern of bad driving.”
