Victim in Highway 17 crash was impaired, court hears

The Ottawa man killed in the March 2011 crash on Highway 17 had a blood alcohol level over the legal limit, an Ottawa court heard today.

Dr. Christy Natsis is charged with impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and exceeding the legal blood-alcohol limit in the March 2011 crash that killed 50-year-old Bryan Casey of Ottawa.

At her trial on Monday, the Ontario Provincial Police Const. Ryan Besner said he learned from the Centre of Forensic Sciences on May 24 that Casey tested over the legal limit.

The results of Casey's and Natsis's blood alcohol tests have not been released in court.

Defence lawyer Michael Edelson also grilled Besner over his handling of witnesses at the scene, suggesting Besner bullied one witness who claimed he did not believe Natsis was impaired.

Crash-scene technologists are expected to give evidence later in the trial that might shed light on where on the road the collision took place.