Man who caused death of passenger gets prison time

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This article was published 22/02/2020 (2082 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man who admitted to drinking and driving in August 2018, causing an accident that led to the death of one of his passengers, has been sentenced to two years in prison.

“This is a horribly tragic situation,” Crown attorney Marnie Evans told the Virden provincial court Friday morning.

“It’s tragic for a number of reasons. It’s tragic for the Muxlow family, tragic for everybody involved in the collision, and it’s not an easy task when dealing with charges like these in front of the court.”

Zachary Olmstead, 24, pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court in October to impaired driving causing death in relation to the crash that killed 39-year-old Ryan Muxlow.

The court heard at the time that on Aug. 10, 2018, RCMP were called to a single vehicle accident on Highway 2 between Pipestone and Deleau.

Officers found a truck off the road on the south side of the highway. It was upright with damage to the top and appeared to have rolled over.

A beer was found in the ditch.

Two passengers had already been taken to hospital, and a third passenger, Muxlow, was found dead in the back seat.

The driver, later identified as Olmstead, had wrapped himself in a blanket and remained on scene.

Olmstead told police the group had come to Brandon from Saskatchewan to go to the Keystone Motor Inn and decided also to make a stop at Houston’s Country Roadhouse.

Olmstead admitted to driving the vehicle and that he had consumed approximately five beers throughout the evening.

Olmstead initially blamed the collision on the fact that “Manitoba had no shoulders on the highways,” Evans told the court at the time, and told police he had hit the gravel and lost control.

He has since accepted responsibility for the collision. 

All the occupants of the vehicle were wearing seatbelts except for Muxlow.

A report compiled by the RCMP concluded the driver being impaired by alcohol may have contributed in part to the collision, due to the inability of the driver to safely maintain the vehicle within its respective lane of travel on a straight road in good conditions.

An autopsy concluded Muxlow died from blunt force trauma to his head and neck as a result of the collision.

The Crown asked the court to consider a four-year sentence followed by a five-year driving prohibition, Evans said on Friday.

While acknowledging there were mitigating factors in the case, Evans said the primary focus of sentencing was deterrence and denunciation.

“It’s clear that Mr. Olmstead feels the impact of that day and his actions. It’s also clear that he has taken responsibility for what has happened. Many of the occupants of the car feel that Mr. Olmstead has been punished enough essentially for what happened … that shows the power of forgiveness,” Evans said.

“However, we’re not just talking about forgiveness here. We’re talking about deterrence and denunciation as a paramount consideration for sentencing in impaired causing death cases. …The ramifications of these cases are so severe that a message has to be sent not just to the accused, but to the community as a whole, that the sentence for these sorts of actions is custody.”

Saskatchewan defence lawyer Timothy Beler told the court Olmstead’s pre-sentence report was one of the most positive he’d ever seen, outlining his remorse, contrition, and acceptance of responsibility while rating him as a very low risk to reoffend.

Olmstead also has no criminal record, Beler said, and a single speeding ticket on his driving record from when he was 18 years old.

The victims and their families, including the Muxlow family, have forgiven Olmstead, Beler said, but Olmstead himself is struggling to move forward.

“(Olmstead) expressed experiencing ongoing waves of remorse on a daily and nightly basis. He indicates he believes when the victims and their families state they forgive him for his role in the accident, but he advised that he can’t forgive himself,” Beler said. 

Given the circumstances of Olmstead’s case, Beler argued a sentence of two years would be an appropriate sentence.

When given the opportunity to address the court, Olmstead offered an apology.

“I’m here today to take responsibility for my actions,” Olmstead said. “I would give anything to take back my actions from this night.”

Judge Murray Thompson acknowledged the tragic circumstances of Olmstead’s case, adding that deterrence and denunciation needs to be a factor in sentencing to get the message out there of the serious consequences drinking and driving can have.

“Impaired driving is a huge social problem … rarely a day goes by when I’m sitting in court that a person isn’t a victim of impaired driving,” Thompson said. “Many times it doesn’t result in death or injury, but it does.”

Thompson also acknowledged Olmstead’s own attitude and actions since the offence, noting his guilty plea as a sign of remorse and taking responsibility for his actions.

“It’s clear from both submissions from counsel, the hardest person on Zachary Olmstead is Zachary Olmstead,” Thompson said. “History can’t be changed, but his life can be changed going forward. I’m hoping that today, when I sentence him to jail, that he can accept that as him paying his measure to society for this crime, and that he will use that to start moving forward, because it seems like he’s stuck.”

Thompson sentenced Olmstead to two years in prison to be followed by 18 months of probation.

Olmstead was also handed a three-year driving prohibition.

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