Natsis lawyer questions expert on fatal crash data
Automotive engineer Jim Engle analyzed information from vehicle's 'black box'
An expert witness at the impaired driving trial of Pembroke dentist Christy Natsis says he doesn't know if police followed certain protocols when removing evidence from Natsis's car following a fatal crash.
Natsis faces charges of impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and exceeding the legal blood-alcohol limit in a 2011 crash that killed Ottawa father Bryan Casey.
Ford automotive engineer Jim Engle, who analyzed information from the power control module of Natsis's Ford Expedition, was questioned for the second day in a row about the reliability of that information.
Engle had previously testified the recorder did not show any indication Natsis touched her brake in the seconds leading up to the collision, and that Natsis was travelling at about 88 km/h at the moment of impact.
On Monday defence lawyer Vincent Clifford tried to cast doubt on the reliability of Engle's evidence, questioning why the module sat on the engineer's desk for over a year before the data was analyzed.
Engle said it took that long because an outside agency had to design software to download the data.
On Tuesday Clifford asked Engle if the Ontario Provincial Police followed Ford's own procedures to remove the SUV's black box so as not to damage the data.
Engle said the protocol should be followed but maintained the data retrieved was intact.