THE CANADIAN PRESS -- OTTAWA -- The country's top court has declared that prosecutors have the right to renege on a plea bargain that would have allowed a woman to plead to careless driving in a deadly crash.The Supreme Court of Canada was unanimous in its decision, the first time the justices have ruled on the discretion allowed prosecutors in plea agreements.
The Alberta case involved Olga Maria Nixon, who was charged with impaired driving causing death and injury in a 2006 crash which killed a couple and injured their seven-year-old son.
A prosecutor concluded there were problems with the admissibility of the breath samples and agreed to reduce the charges to dangerous driving causing death and injury.
Further negotiation led to a deal for a plea of careless driving, a traffic offence. But the deal was quashed by senior Alberta justice officials, which made Nixon's lawyers cry foul.
The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether a prosecutor can cancel a plea deal. But it has looked at other cases involving the discretion of prosecutors.
"So long as the proceedings are ongoing, the Crown may be required to make further decisions about whether the prosecution should be continued and, if so, in respect of what charges," Justice Louise Charron wrote for the majority.
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Source: Huffington
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