Sask. driver handed 20 months in jail for impaired crash that injured friend

A Saskatchewan man has been sentenced to 20 months behind bars for driving impaired in the RM of Pipestone and getting into an accident that left his passenger with six fractured ribs and a fractured vertebra.

“Driving impaired cannot and will not be tolerated, and the manner in which this court can express its condemnation for such behaviour is through the imposition of a lengthy sentence,” Justice Scott Abel said in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench on Wednesday.

Daniel Joyea, 42, pleaded guilty in February to driving while impaired over 0.08 causing bodily harm.

The Crown recommended a jail sentence of two years, followed by two years of supervised probation, while defence argued for a sentence in the range of nine to 12 months.

When Joyea pleaded guilty to the charge, the Crown read an agreed statement of facts outlining the details of the offence.

On Aug. 4, 2023, Virden RCMP received a report of a single-vehicle collision in the Rural Municipality of Pipestone, which is about 100 kilometres west of Brandon. The vehicle had rolled over in the ditch, and the driver and passenger were injured.

“One of the occupants … was located ejected from the vehicle a short distance away. He was airlifted by STARS ambulance, as was Mr. Joyea, who was located in the driver’s seat,” Crown attorney Sarah Kok said.

A sample of Joyea’s blood, which was taken when he was transported to Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, showed he had an alcohol content of 0.137.

She said the passenger had several injuries, including six fractured ribs, a scapular fracture and a fracture to his T4 vertebra, along with cuts and bruises all over his body.

One of the fractured ribs caused a hemopneumothorax, which is when blood and air are within the space between the lungs and chest wall.

“The fact that (the victim) didn’t suffer more significant injuries after being ejected from the car appeared to be pure luck,” Kok said during Joyea’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday. She said neither of the men was wearing a seatbelt.

She said the aggravating factors in this case were “plentiful.”

“We know that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour, and in this case, there’s a continued pattern of reoffending in very substantial and related ways,” Kok said, specifically noting Joyea’s three prior convictions for impaired driving.

Joyea was also prohibited from driving at the time of the collision, Kok said.

She said driving is a privilege, not a right, and Joyea repeatedly violated this privilege in the most serious ways, which ultimately resulted in causing serious injuries to himself and his passenger.

The victim, who worked in construction and framing, couldn’t return to work because of chronic back pain that resulted from the collision, the Crown said.

While Kok said the victim recently passed away from an unrelated medical event and didn’t write a victim impact statement, “we know that (his life) had been forever changed from the actions of Mr. Joyea.”

Kok said Joyea’s guilty plea was a mitigating factor and acknowledged his Gladue factors, which she said were taken into consideration when coming up with the proposed sentence.

Joyea was assessed as a medium risk to reoffend, but Kok said the Crown didn’t believe that was an accurate reflection of his risk factor.

She said his prior criminal record and lack of substantive efforts to address his substance use issues called for a lengthy sentence.

“Repeated driving while impaired must be strongly deterred to protect the public and hopefully finally send a message to Mr. Joyea that this abhorrent behaviour goes strongly punished,” she said.

Kok also asked the court to impose a five-year driving prohibition.

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison asked the court to take Joyea’s guilty plea, the remorse he has shown to the victim and Gladue factors into consideration when deciding the appropriate sentence.

Harrison said Joyea was good friends with the passenger and had apologized to him. They “shook hands” and the passenger said to Joyea that it was an accident, he said.

Joyea told Harrison he saw a moose on the road and swerved, which is what caused the vehicle to roll into the ditch, Harrison said.

“What we have here, I think, is somewhat less serious when a passenger who’s a friend gets into a vehicle versus him hitting somebody who’s walking down the road, for example,” Harrison said.

The passenger knew what he was getting into, Harrison said.

He outlined Joyea’s “significant” Gladue factors, including a family history with residential schools and his exposure to substance and domestic abuse as a child.

Court heard Joyea started drinking alcohol at eight years old, and when he was 11, he was being supplied alcohol by his family, which he would drink until he passed out.

“That’s where it really started,” Harrison said.

Joyea has reduced his alcohol use and is open to going into a long-term treatment program, he said.

When given a chance to speak, Joyea said he was remorseful. He also reiterated that the moose is what caused him to go into the ditch and said he thought he and his passenger were wearing seatbelts.

Abel said prior periods of incarceration have not resulted in Joyea reflecting on his behaviour, specifically drinking and driving.

He said a sentence in the range of nine to 12 months wouldn’t appropriately address the principles of deterrence and denunciation, but in light of Joyea’s Gladue factors and other personal circumstances, he would make a “modest adjustment” from the Crown’s recommendation.

Abel sentenced Joyea to 20 months in custody, followed by two years of supervised probation. He also imposed a five-year driving prohibition.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com