Reilly Anzovino
JOHN ROBBINS/Bullet News
The senior OPP officer who investigated the Boxing Day crash two years ago that claimed the life of Fort Erie teen Reilly Anzovino says he didn’t have sufficient grounds to test the driver of the car in which she was a passenger.
Testifying Tuesday at the coroner’s inquest now probing the circumstances of Anzovino’s death, Const. Patrick Massie said he detected a faint odour of alcohol when he first spoke with the driver, Molly Fairgrieve, following the late night accident.
And while a unopened bottle of liquor was later found in the crumpled car, those things were insufficient grounds to demand Fairgrieve submit to a roadside screening test – even in cases involving a fatality, said Massie.
“You still have to have grounds to (make a) demand,” said Massie. “You can’t base it on the severity of a collision.”
The accident happened Dec. 26, 2009 around 11:30 p.m.
Fairgrieve and and Anzovino, who had been friends since childhood, were heading to Port Colborne along Highway 3 when the car they were driving in spun out on control and was struck on the front passenger-side door by an oncoming vehicle.
While Fairgrieve received only minor injuries, Anzovino sustained severe trauma that caused massive internal bleeding.
She was pronounced dead at Welland County General hospital at 1:21 a.m. the next morning.
Medical witnesses who have testified at the inquest say she died as a result of cardiac arrest brought on by the internal bleeding, likely caused by damage to her liver.
In the days following the accident, questions were raised about the circumstances surrounding the accident and whether she could have been saved if the emergency departments at Port Colborne General and Fort Erie’s Douglas Memorial hospital hadn’t been converted to urgent-care centres earlier that same year.
The inquest was convened Oct. 31 and so far has heard 11 days of testimony.
Fairgrieve herself took to the stand on Day 1 of the inquest, testifying she had not been drinking on the evening of the crash.
She said the same thing to Massie that night when he was called in to investigate.
Massie said Tuesday he had noted a faint odor of alcohol when speaking with Fairgrieve, but did not note any other signs of impairment, such as glossy eyes or slurred speech.
While she was somewhat disoriented immediately after the crash, Massie said he didn’t find that unusual since she had a bloody nose and had possibly suffered a head injury during the collision.
Later at the hospital, Massie said he “got in her face” to interview her up close, but he no longer could smell alcohol.
At the time of the accident, Fairgrieve was a novice driver with a G2 license, which means she was not allowed to have any alcohol whatsoever in her bloodstream while driving.
While that’s a rule under the provincial Highway Traffic Act, Massie said police officers can’t just perform roadside screening tests on every G2 driver involved in an accident.
Instead, Massie said it’s the Criminal Code which dictates the standards for demanding a breath sample.
Without reasonable grounds to suspect a person is driving while impaired, demanding a roadside screening test would be a violation of the person’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Rather than alcohol, Massie said he believes it was combination of poor weather and driver inexperience that contributed to the accident.
Regional coroner Dr. Jack Stanborough, who is presiding over the inquest, was surprised by Massie’s remarks and indicated he wants the inquest to explore the issue in greater depth.
“As a death investigator, I find your testimony very troublesome,” Stanborough said, adding he thinks the “people of Ontario would be very troubled to find out someone smelled of alcohol and was not tested.”
Also on Tuesday, the inquest heard from Anne Atkinson, the Niagara Health System vice-president of patient services responsible for the emergency medicine program, and Kevin Smith, deputy chief of Niagara Emergency Medical Services.
Previous medical witnesses have said its unlikely that Anzovino could have been saved even if she had been transported immediately to a specialized trauma centre in Buffalo, Hamilton or Toronto, due to the nature of her injuries.
Still, Atkinson said she and the NHS are interested in any recommendations that may come from the inquest that could possibly lead to improvements in the trauma care available to patients at Niagara hospitals.
It has been suggested by previous witnesses that there be a feasibility study to see whether there is any merit in designating one of the NHS’s three hospitals as the preferred destination to take trauma victims, the way all stroke patients are taken by ambulance to the regional stroke unit located at Greater Niagara General hospital even if that means bypassing a closer hospital.
“We certainly would support… a feasibility study,” she said.
Atkinson concluded her testimony by extending condolences on behalf of the NHS to Anzovino’s parents, Tim Anzovino and Denise Kennedy, who have been in attendance at each day of the inquest.
“We were humbled by your courage.”
Smith was still on the stand when the inquest adjourned for the day.
The hearing continues today.
