THC-impaired driving causing death trial adjourns until February for more witnesses, argument

A high-profile impaired driving trial in Saskatoon is adjourning until Feb. 5.

Day 3 of the trial concluded Thursday with Const. Blake Atkinson testifying about when and how Taylor Kennedy made critical admissions about her earlier drug use.

Kennedy is charged with fatally hitting nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice with her truck on Sept. 9, 2021. 

The lawyers will return in February to finish calling witnesses and then make their arguments to Judge Jane Wootten on whether Kennedy was compelled by law to make her statements to officers.

Kennedy had not been told she was detained, that she could call a lawyer or that anything she said could be used against her when she made the drug admission.

It was an emotional week in court, with family and friends of Baeleigh Maurice filling the courtroom every day. The trial began with footage from three doorbell cameras that captured the crash and aftermath.

On Thursday, a drum circle was held in front of the courthouse. Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations third vice-chief Aly Bear said she came to support the family, who is Indigenous.

"Yeah, it's been almost two years. So every time the family has to attend court, every time the family has to be here, it's triggering. It's traumatizing sitting in court and watching that video over again," Bear said.

Kennedy told a Saskatoon police officer that she had micro-dosed psilocybin mushrooms and vaped cannabis to combat anxiety in the previous 24 hours before hitting Maurice with her Ford Ranger.

Kennedy made the disclosure to Const. Shelby McLean when the officer was talking to her in the first hour after the crash. McLean and Const. Atkinson were staying with Kennedy after the crash, and Atkinson had stepped away to collect video surveillance footage.

McLean said she told Kennedy that Kennedy would have to make a statement about the accident, likely including where she was coming from and where she was going to prior to the collision — and what she had done the day before.

"At no point do you ask yourself, 'Has she been told she's detained? Has she been allowed to talk to a lawyer?' ... It didn't cross your mind?" defence lawyer Thomas Hynes asked in court on Wednesday.

"I was more focused on the fact that she was extremely upset," McLean replied.

On Thursday, Atkinson testified that he did not suspect impairment as a factor in the crash. It wasn't until McLean relayed Kennedy's admission that the matter turned into an impaired investigation.