Semi driver found guilty in fatal 2020 crash at rural Manitoba highway intersection
Sukhbir Singh was charged with one count of dangerous driving causing death after he drove through a stop sign along Highway 13 in the rural municipality of Grey, about 70 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, and collided with a pickup truck in February 2020.
He was previously convicted of dangerous driving in this case, but in 2023, an appeal court decided the original trial judge misinterpreted photo evidence, leading to a miscarriage of justice and an unfair trial.
The appeal court overturned Singh's conviction and ordered a new trial.
In a May 14 decision, Associate Chief Justice Shane Perlmutter of the Manitoba Court of King's Bench also found Singh guilty.
Singh was driving a semi-trailer truck south on Highway 13 around 6 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2020, and drove through a stop sign at the Highway 2 intersection, the decision said.
He was working as a delivery driver and had a valid licence to operate a semi-trailer truck.
Road signs indicate that drivers on Highway 13 are required to stop at this intersection, while those on Highway 2 are not, the legal filing said.
Andrew Labossiere, 34, was driving his pickup truck east on Highway 2 and hit Singh's semi on the passenger side as he entered the intersection.
Labossiere's truck was pushed into the southwest ditch and he died.
'Enhanced duty': Crown
The Crown argued commercial semi drivers "owe an enhanced duty" to other road users. The prosecutor said Singh's actions were a "marked departure" from the standard of care expected of a driver in his position, the decision said.
Singh did not testify during the trial. His defence lawyers did not dispute that he had failed to stop at the intersection, nor did they argue that he hit the breaks too late to prevent the collision.
His defence argued that the Crown's case is based on the presence of functioning warning signals — such as flashing lights, visible stop lines and unobstructed rumble strips — but evidence doesn't prove their presence at the time of the accident.
The evidence included in Perlmutter's decision showed the stop sign had a red flashing light, but the flash pattern, wattage and how far it illuminated at the time of the crash were unknown. There is a reflective warning sign 250 metres before the intersection, with two rumble strips on the highway near this point.
Police testified that the road was well-maintained throughout the winter and no ice was on it at the time, the decision said.
The evidence included in Perlmutter's decision says Singh was sober and had gotten enough sleep. Cellphone analysis showed he was on an 18-minute phone call before the crash, but it wasn't clear if he was using a hands-free device.
An accident reconstruction expert testified that Singh was going 85 km/h when the collision happened, and he hit his breaks 1.5 seconds after impact already occurred. The expert said Singh began to react a second before impact, but didn't have enough time or distance to prevent the crash.
While the Crown argued Singh owed a greater duty of care as a semi driver, Perlmutter said it was "unnecessary" to decide on those grounds.
Instead, his decision was based on his view that a "reasonable person" would be "highly attentive to their surroundings" while driving a semi on a dark winter morning.
"Mr. Singh's failure to perceive and react to all of the warnings was a marked departure from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person in Mr. Singh's circumstances," Perlmutter wrote.
The judge said he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Singh deviated from the level of care owed to other motorists and found Singh guilty.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
10 minutes ago
- CBC
Cases of auto theft down across Canada in first half of 2025, report shows
Social Sharing A new report has found auto theft trends are down 19 per cent across Canada in the first half of this year, compared to the same time period in 2024. But the authors of the report say that vigilance is still needed to keep numbers coming down. It's an "optimistic trend" seen in provinces across the country, says the report by Équité Association, an organization that works to stop crime on behalf of the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry, The largest drops were seen in Ontario at 25.9 per cent and Quebec at 22 per cent, said the report. These provinces experienced the highest rate of theft from 2021 to 2023, when Équité said Canada was facing a "national crisis" in car theft. "This encouraging trend in decreasing auto theft in the most affected provinces demonstrates the success of collective investments, policies and awareness campaigns," the report says. While the drop in auto theft is encouraging, Bryan Gast, vice president of investigative services at Équité Association, said it's still important for vehicle owners to stay alert and for different levels of government to continue collaborations against auto theft. "This is not a victimless crime. It's not just a property crime. The proceeds of these stolen vehicles are funding organized crime and it is affecting the communities in which we live," he said. The report also found that the national rate of recovery for stolen vehicles increased to 56 per cent in the first half of this year, up from 53 per cent for the same time period in 2024. Gast says auto theft in Canada began to spike during the COVID-19 pandemic when a supply chain issue with cars gave organized crime an opportunity to make money. The majority of the cars that are stolen are personal passenger vehicles, such as pickup trucks, sedans and SUVs, he says. He credits the drop in theft and the increase in recoveries to collaboration across different levels of government and with agencies in other provinces. That work included the creation of Ontario's auto theft team to identify crime hotspots, provincial Ministries of Transportation working to close gaps in vehicle registration processes and over $200 million in federal funding, said the report. "I've never seen this collaboration, even in my 30 years of policing, work together. This is very large scale [with] multiple police services," Gast said. "Phenomenal results and I think it's really showing." He also said there's been an increased emphasis to crack down on international organized crime related to auto theft in Canada. Information on any car that is stolen in Canada is sent to the Canadian Police Information Centre, which then shares that information with Interpol, Gast said. "What used to go under the radar once it goes international, now it shows it's stolen. And it affects the criminal's supply and demand," he said. WATCH | A 2024 report looks at what cars are targetted by auto theft criminals: Fighting auto theft in Canada will take more work, report finds 8 months ago Data shows drops in auto theft across the GTA Stephanie Sayer with Toronto Police Services says the city has seen a 34 per cent drop in auto theft cases so far this year, compared to the same period in 2024. "That's the result of sustained, focused efforts both within our Service and in collaboration with our policing partners across the GTA," she said. A news release from the York Regional Police said that as of June 25, they've also seen a 37 per cent decline in auto thefts so far this year compared to the same period last year. Gast says it's important for officials and car owners to be aware of the new technologies criminals could use to steal a car. He recommends people with cars always report suspicious activity, park in a garage space if possible and to always keep windows and doors locked. Drivers can also use a steering wheel lock, a pedal lock, a tracking device or an aftermarket immobilizer to protect from reprogramming attacks, Gast said. "You don't have to do them all. You don't have to build your vehicle into Fort Knox. But if you could do a few layers, just to make it add more time for the criminal to steal your vehicle," he said.
National Post
40 minutes ago
- National Post
From killings to rape, the heinous crimes that could get you less jail time than a Freedom Convoy organizer
Article content The Crown would end up seeking the exact same sentence for the parents as that being sought for Barber: eight years in jail. Article content Shooting at police Article content In the summer of 2023 Siavash Ahmadi was pulled over by West Vancouver Police for suspected impaired driving. When instructed to retrieve his licence, Ahmadi instead reached into a bag of loaded guns, retrieved a pistol and fired at two officers from a distance of just two metres. Article content Admadi didn't hit anyone, and neither did the officers when they returned fire. At trial last November, the Crown sought a sentence of seven years. Ahmadi ultimately received just four years, in addition to a $1,000 fine for impaired driving. Article content Michael Augustine, 60, pled guilty to a 2022 incident in which he used his truck to intentionally ram a minivan carrying his step-daughter, whom he had just threatened to kill. Article content The minivan, which was carrying a total of four children and two pregnant women, rolled multiple times before coming to a stop in the woods, 83 metres from the road. Miraculously, nobody was killed, despite one of the children being ejected from the crash. Article content Article content Despite Augustine's long history of violent criminal convictions, the Crown sought eight years, and Augustine was ultimately sentenced to five. Article content While staying at an Edmonton homeless shelter, Stanley Jago attacked a confused fellow resident who had been returning from the bathroom, beating the man so badly that he suffered a fatal seizure. Article content In the court proceedings that followed, Jago gained a reputation for unstable behaviour, such as threatening court participants or attempting to attack sheriffs. Article content Jago was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to five years — just slightly less than the five-and-a-half years the Crown had been seeking. Article content In arguing that 56-year-old Prakash Lekhraj didn't feel any remorse for raping a teenaged girl, the Crown would only have needed to point to Lehkraj's testimony that 'he never needs to seek the consent of a female to have sexual relations with her.' Article content Lehkraj was convicted of both sexual assault and the production of child pornography for an August 2020 assault in which he photographed himself raping a minor before uploading the images to an online group chat. The victim 'took it like a champ,' wrote Lekhraj. Article content The Crown sought a sentence of four to five years, but a judge went with three years and three months. Article content Article content IN OTHER NEWS Article content Article content Article content Article content Amidst Canada's bid to fortify its economy against U.S. trade aggression, easily the most low-lying fruit has been the spectre of interprovincial trade barriers. The various regulatory issues that make it hard for provinces to trade with one another cost the Canadian economy an estimated $160 billion per year. Article content Nevertheless, despite some early successes in knocking down the barriers, a major setback occurred this week when Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew bowed out of a trade deal with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario that would commit all four provinces to collaborate on new pipelines, rail links and other infrastructure. Kinew didn't sign on the grounds that no such projects should proceed without Indigenous 'consensus.' That also happens to be the high standard that Prime Minister Mark Carney has suggested for any new federally administered infrastructure; that nothing gets built unless it has 'a consensus of all the provinces and the Indigenous people.' Article content Article content Article content
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Two-time killer who targeted Calgary street sex workers to be sentenced
Social Sharing A Calgary man who's now killed two women who worked in the city's sex trade will be handed a life sentence today, 16 years after he strangled his first victim. Earlier this month, Christopher Dunlop, 50, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2023 death of Judy Maerz, 58. Dunlop had recently finished serving his 13-year manslaughter sentence for strangling Laura Furlan when he stabbed Maerz 79 times and then set her body on fire. At the time of her death, Maerz was living a vulnerable lifestyle. She struggled with drug addiction and poverty but had managed to secure an apartment. It was her first home in 12 years. The night she was killed, Maerz spent time with a friend before she headed out to the Forest Lawn stroll. In the early morning hours of Feb. 16, 2023, Dunlop picked her up, drove her to the Deerfoot Athletic Park and attacked her. After fatally stabbing Maerz and slitting her throat, Dunlop doused her body in gasoline and set it on fire. But while he attempted to destroy DNA evidence left on Maerz's body, Dunlop left some behind. The evidence presented at trial suggested Maerz "fought for her life," according to prosecutors Hyatt Mograbee and Greg Piper. In the course of the struggle, Dunlop cut his hand. His blood, left in the melting snow, ultimately led police to arrest the two-time killer. Comments made by Dunlop to undercover police officers during the Furlan investigation help to explain his choice of victims. Dunlop told undercover officers that on the night he killed Furlan, he'd set out to kill someone "who wouldn't be missed." When Dunlop went looking for his second victim years later, he likely thought the same thing. Court of King's Bench Justice Colin Feasby noted in his conviction decision that Dunlop likely believed police wouldn't thoroughly investigate the murder of a street sex worker. Dunlop was wrong. He now faces life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
