Supreme Court rejects B.C. woman’s request in impaired driving conviction

OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected a request by a British Columbia woman to hear her appeal of a drunk driving conviction involving the death of a four-year-old girl.

Carol-Ann Berner was found guilty after Alexa Middelaer was killed and her aunt was severely injured in May 2008 when they were run down by a car while feeding a horse on a rural road.

In November 2010, Berner was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and banned from driving for five years, but appealed.

The B.C. Court of Appeal previously ruled that the trial judge considered the results of Berner’s breathalyzer tests and the expert evidence of the RCMP’s forensic alcohol specialist in ruling the woman’s ability to drive was impaired by alcohol.

Berner appealed on several grounds, including that the Insurance Corp. of B.C. disposed of her car before she was charged and the police accident reconstructionist made errors in measuring and analysis.

As per its custom, the high court gave no reasons Wednesday for dismissing her request for leave to appeal.