Image credit: X/@GoTRUWolfPack

By Michael Reeve

INDEPENDENT REVIEW

Families of TRU crash victims call for independent review of charge assessment

Dec 9, 2024 | 4:52 PM

KAMLOOPS — The BC Prosecution Service says it has conducted a ‘senior-level review’ of the charge assessment in connection with the crash that killed TRU student-athlete Owyn McInnis last November. Fellow teammates Riley Brinnen and Owen Waterhouse also suffered life altering injuries in the accident.

The families had called on the prosecution service to review the case, after it said will continue to prosecute the driver, Colval Abbinett, under the Motor Vehicle Act, and not pursue criminal charges. While the review has been completed, the families are raising questions.

“It doesn’t take much to just really struggle with how that happened. One, the speed of which it happened, and two, the person who did the review,” said Chris Brinnen.

Brinnen is more than familiar with how the Crown works in B.C. after retiring from the RCMP. He’s raising concerns on two fronts about the review that was conducted by the prosecution service, starting with timeline, on the day Attorney General Nicki Sharma announced she would look into the file.

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Premier Eby is still out of touch with the people

Jan 09, 2025

1000 Ways to Heal

1000 Ways to Heal: Secwepemcul'ew

Jan 06, 2025

Question of the Week

Are you happy with the way Justin Trudeau is resigning and proroguing parliament to clear the way for a new leader?

Jan 06, 2025

“That timing, the size of the file, having the file reviewed, her being able to write that letter, the same day that Attorney General Sharma was going to be looking into it, potentially. It just doesn’t feel right for us,” said Brinnen.

Brinnen, whose son, Riley was injured in the crash, has also called into question the author of the review.

“We were advised that the regional crown, who is Jessica Patterson, was involved in the original charge assessment,” noted Brinnen. “We really challenge the integrity of the BC Prosecution Service, the person who did the review is the same person who is part of the original charge assessment.”

Brinnen referred to the situation as ‘Patterson reviewing her own work.’

Those two factors have led Brinnen and the McInnis and Waterhouse families to call for an independent review of the charge assessment.

“We are just really struggling as to the ‘why.’ And there is a multitude of questions — more get raised after this letter. But we are really struggling with the ‘why,’ and the families deserve to know before that day in court,” Brinnen told CFJC News.

Time is becoming an issue, with an independent review needing to be approved and take place prior to the driver’s first appearance in court, set for December 23.

CFJC News reach out to Attorney General Sharma for comment. She was not available for an interview but did provide a written statement.

“I want to express my deepest sympathies to the Waterhouse, McInnis, and Brinnen families for this unimaginable tragedy,” wrote Sharma. “I have been briefed on this matter, and I understand the Regional Crown Counsel for the Interior Region of the BC Prosecution Service has conducted a review of the original charge assessment and confirmed that decision. The BC Prosecution Service makes independent decisions as to whether a criminal prosecution is warranted in a particular case, and if so, what charges should be laid. That independence is a cornerstone of our justice system.”

The statement did not directly make mention of whether the attorney general will be pushing for the independent review requested by the families.