650 CKOM reports
On Friday, the judge ruled in favour of the crown that Taylor Ashley Kennedy’s confession to using drugs the day before she hit and killed a nine-year-old girl with her truck can be used in her trial.
Kennedy is charged with impaired driving while exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC, causing the death of nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice back in 2021.
The decision was made as part of a voir dire (a trial within a trial) as to whether or not Kennedy’s statements to police about taking magic mushrooms and cannabis before the crash would be admissible as evidence.
The defense’s argument alleged that Kennedy’s right against self-incrimination was breached, and her admissions to police should not be allowed in the trial.
The crown argued that the laws involving self incrimination and utterances were changed over two decades ago, and that no police officers told Kennedy she had to answer their questions.
As Judge Jane Wootten went over the decision, she explained she did not find Kennedy’s testimony about telling police she did drugs the night before credible. Wootten said the concern for Maurice was a theme in Kennedy’s evidence, pertaining to why she volunteered information.
Maurice’s mother Rochelle Cook left immediately after the hearing, but Third Vice Chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Aly Bear spoke to reporters stating that she was satisfied with the judge’s decision.
“Justice needs to be served for the life taken, and this life was a nine-year-old child,” Bear said.
The trial will resume at Saskatoon Provincial court on Tuesday.
