Free Will Judgement and Justice

"Here we have a situation where the act was considered dangerous by the jury -- that's obvious. But there was no ill will at all -- no alcohol, no speeding, no race. In a case like this, the instructions that the judge gave (to the jury) are a little bit unjust for a citizen in this situation."
"What I'm saying is that the instructions judges are obliged to give on criminal negligence can't suit a case like this. What the jury is asked is: Consider the act; if it is dangerous, objectively, then you may infer there was a crime."
"What I'm saying is, the fact that (Perreault) had to give these instructions brings me to the conclusion that, in this field, Canadian law failed."
"She is in shock. What do you expect? Already, to have caused the deaths of two people, you know, it's really something. And the verdict just confirmed that it was criminal. She's pretty emotional right now."
Marc Labelle, defence lawyer, Montreal

Peter McCabe / The Gazette    Emma Czornobaj, 25, has been convicted of criminal negligence and dangerous driving causing two deaths after she stopped her car on a highway to avoid hitting a family of ducks.

Emma Czornobaj, 25, opted for trial by jury. She hoped that a jury of her peers would find it possible to empathize with her instinct to stop her vehicle on a busy highway when she saw a troop of seven ducklings, hoping to move them out of harm's way. She parked at the roadside, putting on her flashers, and set out to rescue the ducks.

Two motorcycles were headed her way, a woman driving her own motorcycle, her husband driving his, and their daughter riding behind her father whose motorcycle was going well above 115 kph. Andre Roy, 50, and his 16-year-old daughter Jessie slammed into the back of Ms. Czornobaj's parked vehicle. They died.

It took the jury four days of deliberation to return their verdicts of guilty on two counts each of criminal negligence causing death, carrying a maximum life sentence, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death for which the maximum sentence is 14 years in prison. It took but a moment of an ill-judged split-second decision to leave a car on a highway to snuff out the lives of two people.

Ill considered, reckless, highly unintelligent, that decision by a young woman who had several years of driving experience. Her deep-seated consideration of the plight of seven vulnerable ducks erasing any semblance of common sense as a responsible driver on a public highway. Most people instinctively swerve to avoid hitting an animal on a highway.

Many people, driving on sideroads or rural country roads are known to stop their vehicles to move a turtle, a snake, shoo away other vulnerable animals. On major highways the toll of wildlife is obvious, with the highway littered with dead animals. A distressing sight to many people, and many more are just indifferent; it's the way things are.

All it took was a few seconds from when Emma Czornobaj parked her car -- left it to walk along the side of the road intending to pack those ducklings into her vehicle -- to cause the death of two people. Her own plight is one that is desperately sad. She is responsible for an accident that killed two human beings in her zeal to save seven ducklings from possibly coming to harm.

Does she deserve to spend considerable time in prison for her stupid split-second decision? The jury delivered the verdict. The judge will deliver the sentence.

Emma Czornabaj can hope that Superior Court Justice Eliane Perrault will make a statement that she will never forget, in delivering her sentence. In the spirit of both justice and humanity perhaps she will see her way clear to imposing a discretionary sentence of community service and a lifetime ban on driving.