Driver pleads guilty to dangerous driving in 2020 crash near Whitehorse that killed 2
Jackie Hong | CBC News | Posted: November 8, 2022 2:09 PM | Last Updated: November 8, 2022
Despite Devin Edmiston's guilty pleas, the facts are in dispute
A Winnipeg man has entered guilty pleas to dangerous driving charges related to a 2020 crash on the Alaska Highway south of Whitehorse that killed two people and left another seriously injured.
Appearing in a Whitehorse courtroom via video on Nov. 1, Devin Edmiston entered guilty pleas to two counts of dangerous operation causing death and one count of dangerous operation causing bodily harm.
Edmiston was behind the wheel and attempting to overtake an SUV in a no-passing zone near the Yukon River Bridge by Marsh Lake, known colloquially as the "blue bridge," on July 5, 2020, when the vehicles collided.
Edmiston lost control of his car and hit an oncoming motorcyclist before ending up in a ditch.
The motorcycle rider, 43-year-old Whitehorse resident Travis Adams, was killed in the crash. Winnipeg resident Nicole Sanderson, a 47-year-old passenger in Edmiston's car, also died, and another passenger was seriously injured.
While Edmiston entered guilty pleas, the Crown and defence are still in disagreement about "factual issues," Crown attorney Noel Sinclair told the court, particularly in regard to major aggravating factors.
In an unusual move, the Crown filed a document of "Crown allegations" to the court, while the defence filed its own version of "admissions of fact."
Edmiston's case can't be moved to sentencing — nor can he formally be found guilty despite his pleas — until the Crown and defence settle their factual disputes.
The matter will return to court later this month.