Tardy Justice, But Justice Withall

"We've been in court every single day of the trial and we've heard the evidence. We know the facts, we know the truth."
"We are relieved that justice is being done. The pain inflicted upon us and our families from the crash and the drawn-out court case has left a huge impact on our family. It should not be experienced by others."
"I will never forget the look on my children's faces when I told them what happened. I will never forget the pain in their eyes and in their hearts."
LeeEllen Carroll, widow of Bryan Casey

Bryan Casey, 50, died March 31, 2011 after a two-vehicle crash on Highway 17 near Arnprior. Christy Natsis has been charged with drunk driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death.
Handout photo / Casey family

"Such conduct demonstrates a recklessness in creating a risk or danger to other users of the highway which, in considering the evidence of driving conduct, establishes a pattern of disregard for the safety of other users of the highway which amounts to a marked departure from the standard of care of a reasonably prudent driver."
"Mr. Casey, in spite of his elevated blood-alcohol level, perceived the danger presented by the presence of the Natsis vehicle entirely within his lane and reacted. He removed his foot from the accelerator, he applied his brakes, he began to turn his vehicle away and he reduced his speed ... thereby taking evasive action in an apparent and tragically unsuccessful attempt to avoid a collision with the Ford Expedition."
Ontario Court Justice Neil Kozloff

"It's been a very long trial. It was a very painful experience to lose my son Bryan in the prime of his life, and to experience and witness the grief and [heartbreak] and pain of LeeEllen and their children, Bryan's brothers and sisters, and our extended families in Ireland, the U.K. and Canada."
"Bryan was a good son and a credit to his family. May the good lord hold Bryan in the palm of his hand, until we meet again."
William 'Gus' Casey, father of Bryan Casey

The clear-cut, so obvious instance of driving while under the influence of alcohol causing death, was an outstanding example of how an accused with money is capable of hiring experienced trial lawyers who can string out a trial and engage in courtroom tactics geared to casting doubt on the professionalism of the Ontario Provincial Police whose evidence-gathering was not equal to the expectations of the defence lawyers, citing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A woman who was clearly inebriated, whose condition was witnessed by countless people who gave evidence against her, a woman whose self-absorption and arrogance was all too evident along with her incapacitated state, who was also responsible for causing pain and anguish to a grieving family having to sit through a series of courtroom charades unnecessary but for the need of the guilty to buy time. Whose 'rights' were violated when police reacted by finally cutting off her hour-long telephone conversation with a lawyer.

Christy Natsis, the Pembroke dentist who was disinterested in the ebbing life of a man she was responsible for killing, demanded medical treatment when she had no need of any. Never questioning the condition of the man she struck. She insisted throughout the years of her ongoing trial that she was guilty of nothing. Her legal team succeeded in manipulating the trial proceedings to cast doubt on the police evidence, and having critical evidence thrown out.

But despite the reading of her blood alcohol level more than two and a half times over the legal limit, no longer being admissible, and the scorn thrown by her legal team through manoeuvres on her behalf over the evidence given by professional police officers, other evidence was there to prove her guilt. From eyewitness accounts of a drunk woman leaving the Crazy Horse bar and backing her vehicle into a parked car before swerving at high speed on the highway to an incident where she narrowly missed hitting a concrete wall.

Had she struck that concrete wall during the 24-minute erratic drive on the highway she might be ruined her vehicle and perhaps been seriously injured herself. Instead, fate had her evade that wall, and instead slam head on into Bryan Casey's Dodge pickup, causing injuries from which he would never recover. Other witnesses including drivers, police officers and a paramedic stated the odour of alcohol was obvious on Ms. Natsis as was her seriously impeded gait.

Pictures released to the court show the scene of a crash between a black Ford Expedition and white pick-up truck on Highway 17 Thursday, March 31, 2011.

The elderly William Casey travelled frequently from England to Canada for the express purpose of attending Ottawa court hearings. The loss of his son, an engineer who worked at Chalk River, was a dreadful blow. Christie Natsis, 50, was found to have breached her bail conditions when she ignored the injunction that she abstain from alcohol, when she was seen buying alcohol at the Rideau Centre.

It took almost four years to see justice finally stand firmly and squarely in finding Christie Natsis guilty of a crime she denied committing. But on March 31, 2011, she chose to drink and drive, and her malfeasance turned into vehicular murder. As a first-time offender she can look forward to a sentence of between two and five years in prison. A well-earned punishment for a woman who had no regard for anyone but herself.