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The trial of a West Island resident charged with impaired driving causing the death of a cyclist in Pierrefonds more than three years ago began at the Montreal courthouse on Monday with dramatic testimony from the first witness, a bystander who tried to help after the collision.
Irène Dehem, a mother of three, was fatally struck by a Hyundai Accent on May 18, 2021 while riding on l’Anse-à-l’Orme Rd. in Pierrefonds. Christine Pryde, a 32-year-old Île-Bizard resident, is also charged with dangerous driving and criminal negligence causing death.
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The trial is being held before a judge alone and Pryde requested it be held in English. Weeks ago, Quebec Court Judge Dennis Galiatsatos announced he will not follow an amendment to the French Language Charter, which took effect on June 1, requiring that all judges in Quebec provide a French translation at the same time as an English decision is delivered. Galiatsatos estimates the wait for an official translation, prepared by court services, would create a delay that could put the trial in jeopardy.
During the two-week trial, Pryde’s lawyer, Jesse Héroux, is expected to argue she will have waited too long for her trial to reach a verdict.
The first witness called to testify on Monday was Kathleen Crawford, 51, a motorist who arrived at the scene of the collision after it occurred.
Crawford said she stopped and got out of her vehicle to check on Dehem, who was lying down. She said at least one other person at the scene was calling 911 while she checked Dehem’s neck and her wrist for a pulse and found none.
“I told the person who was calling 911 that I didn’t think she was alive,” Crawford said.
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Acting on a request from the 911 operator, Crawford and another person moved Dehem’s body and she tried to perform CPR until firefighters arrived.
Crawford said it was evident that Dehem was badly injured because a bone in one of her legs was sticking out.
She said she then sought out the driver involved in the incident, and other witnesses pointed her toward Pryde who was still seated in her Hyundai Accent.
“She was crying and she said: ‘Please help her,’” Crawford said. She kept saying: ‘Please help her.’ I told her that they were doing what they can for (Dehem), but you don’t need to see this. I didn’t feel that she needed to see what was going on.”
Crawford later clarified that Pryde kept her eyes fixed toward Dehem’s body, which was by then in front of her Accent.
The witness also said she asked Pryde if she had been drinking, or did drugs, or was texting while she was driving. She said Pryde answered all three questions in the negative.
“She did mention that she was tired. She said, ‘I’m just so tired,’ and that she was going to Tim Hortons for an iced cap,” Crawford said, adding that Pryde mentioned she suffered from a sleep apnea.
She said she convinced Pryde to get out of her car and accompanied her across the street and out of view of the body.
At one point, Crawford said, Pryde’s father arrived and during a brief conversation he told her that his daughter was on medication. According to a decision made weeks ago, the Crown will allege that Pryde knew she was tired before she got behind the wheel of her Accent and that she was taking medication for anxiety at the time.
The Crown is represented by prosecutors Emanuelle Chabot and Anik Archambault.
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