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It’s been more than eight months since the Crown filed an appeal in a high-profile impaired driving case in Saskatoon.
Now, the Crown has filed written arguments with the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal taking issue with judge Jane Wooten’s calculations and her reasoning for a stay in proceedings.
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Taylor Ashley Kennedy was charged with impaired driving causing death after she struck and killed nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice with a pickup truck in September of 2021.
During her trial in provincial court, Kennedy admitted to ingesting cannabis and micro-dosing psychedelic mushrooms the day before the crash that killed the girl as she rode a scooter through a crosswalk on 33rd Street West.
A memorial for nine-year-old Bayleigh Maurice on 33rd Street West, where the nine-year-old girl was struck and killed in 2021. (650 CKOM file photo)
In its written arguments, the Crown contended that there were delays even before the trial began, noting that it was nearly nine months after Kennedy made her first court appearance that she elected a trial by judge.
To add to that delay, there were also court backlogs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the case close to the 18-month deadline for a timely trial in provincial court under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Crown said Charter breach notices were only filed by the defence a couple of weeks before Kennedy’s trial began, which affected the Crown’s ability to adequately prepare.
According to the court filing, the judge also made errors in her calculations determining the length of the delay in the case.
The Crown said Wooten calculated 684 days of delays – around 22.5 months – which is well above the limit of 540 days, or 18 months. But according to the Crown, 120 days of COVID-related delays and 60 days of defence trial continuation delays should have been excluded from the calculations. That would mean the case was delayed by 504 days, which falls below the threshold for a stay.
As a result, the Crown said, the stay of proceedings should be lifted so the trial can continue.
In a brief statement, Kennedy’s lawyer Thomas Hynes said the defence has not yet filed its written arguments.
A hearing date has been set for Nov. 5, 2025 in Saskatoon.
