'Just astounding': Alberta judge removes prosecutor from trial of man charged in deadly police chase, slamming handling of eyewitness evidence

An Alberta judge has taken the rare step of removing a Crown prosecutor from a case, saying she is “absolutely astounded” by his handling of sensitive eyewitness evidence in the trial of a man charged with killing an innocent bystander during a police chase.

The Wetaskiwin trial of Peter Richard Ashby took a dramatic turn Thursday when Court of King’s Bench Justice Maureen McGuire ordered Crown prosecutor Dwight Dakers recused from the case.

At issue was Dakers’ handling of interviews with eyewitnesses of the U-Haul chase that preceded Ashby’s February 2024 arrest. During the chase, police tried to stop the truck with a spike belt north of Beaumont. Three uninvolved motorists also struck the belt, among them Kassandra Gartner, the executive director of the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank, who died after being struck by the U-Haul.

Police said the U-Haul also hit the spike belt and crashed into another vehicle parked at a nearby gas station. A Honda Civic was then stolen with a child in the back seat, who was found a short distance away a few minutes later.

McGuire said Dakers’ handling of eyewitness identification evidence in the case went against longstanding rules intended to safeguard accused people from wrongful convictions.

She was particularly taken aback by a Jan. 5 email from Crown to defence, in which prosecutors denied any impropriety.

“Even if there was a momentary lapse in ordinary good judgment in the rush of the trial preparation, it is just astounding that the gravity of the wrongdoing has not been recognized, apparently even yet, by these Crown prosecutors,” McGuire said.

Thursday’s ruling came after an application from defence lawyer Caitlin Dick, who argued Dakers and another Crown — who McGuire allowed to remain on the case — interviewed eyewitnesses in ways that could taint their evidence.

Specifically, Dick accused the Crown of showing “key identification witnesses” material they had not previously seen. She said the defence might have to call the prosecutors or their legal assistants as witnesses to ask “the conditions under which those witnesses were able to identify people in the videos they were shown as Mr. Ashby.”

“We may never know what their evidence would have been if not for these videos,” she said.

Dick accused the Crown of “conflating the role of Crown prosecutor and police” by conducting additional investigation that contaminated evidence. She said the Crown’s role in the justice system is “not to obtain a conviction at all costs,” but rather to “dispassionately” present the evidence.

McGuire agreed that Dakers should not continue on the case. She took particular issue with how he chose to interview a witness with evidence regarding the identity of the suspect, noting he did so alone and without taking a video recording or notes.

McGuire said she was astounded by the decision, noting she was doubly confused given the fact the interview took place at a police station with dedicated video interview rooms. The circumstances of the interview effectively created new evidence, making Dakers someone who either side could call as a witness, she said.

“Mr. Dakers must be removed as counsel in this trial,” she said. “A lawyer cannot be both counsel and a witness in a case.”

She added: “It is very difficult to understand that anyone working in the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service would not know the law with respect to eyewitness identification processes … I hope that with some reflection, no one in the Crown’s office remains of the view that this was not improper.”

Ashby’s trial resumes Friday morning. Dakers and his colleague were represented at Thursday’s hearing by another Crown lawyer and were not present for McGuire’s decision.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

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@jonnywakefield.bsky.social

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