SAULT STE. MARIE - A judge will hear submissions today on whether an Ottawa human fatigue specialist should be permitted to give opinion evidence at the trial of a transport driver charged in a fatal collision that killed an off-duty police officer.
The Crown is seeking to have Clinton Marquardt designated an expert witness when he testifies at Gary Tyska's trial, which began Tuesday at the Sault Ste. Marie courthouse.
The Thunder Bay man, a driver with ABI Trucking Inc., has pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death in connection with the deadly Feb. 13, 2014 crash that occurred just east of Blind River.
Const. David Dennie, 36, an Ontario Provincial Police officer, died in the Highway 17 collision.
On Wednesday, Superior Court Justice Edward Gareau conducted a day-long voir dire — a trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of evidence — on the prosecution's request.
Assistant Crown attorney Karen Pritchard and defence counsel Kate Brindley questioned Marquardt about his 16-page curriculum vitae that detailed his academic background, experience and other qualifications.
The court heard his qualifications include working as a human factor investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, where he did 93 federal-level investigations involving railway, pipeline, aviation and marine incidents.
He now operates his own consulting firm, PMI Inc.
The Crown wants him qualified as an expert in investigating the role of sleep-related fatigue in accidents and incidents, and the resulting risk and performance impairment associated with that fatigue.
As well, he should be designated for his expertise in the use of the Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST), a biomathematical software tool, and analyzing human fatigue and resulting risk and performance impairment, Pritchard said.
On the first day of the trial, the court heard from five witnesses — three who came upon the collision scene just before 7 a.m. that February morning, a man who reported a "close call" just before the crash and an OPP collision reconstructionist who photographed the scene.
Dennie was driving a Jeep Wrangler that was found upside down on the east-bound shoulder and in the ditch on the southside of the Trans Canada highway.
The "Maritime One" tractor trailer, which was completing a contracted run for Purolator, between Toronto and Thunder Bay, was "completely off" the roadway in the south ditch, the court heard.
The trial is scheduled for three weeks.
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