UDPATE: 3:40 p.m. Friday – A Kelowna judge has found a 72-year-old woman guilty of driving without due care and attention.
Sharon Marlene Scott killed 83-year-old Julie Gillespie in November 2014, while driving in downtown Kelowna.
Ever since the incident, Scott has maintained she did not see the victim.
Gillespie was using the sidewalk when Scott turned left into an alley and ran over her.
After bumping over the body, Scott kept on driving.
In finding Scott guilty of driving without due care and attention, the judge said a reasonably prudent driver would have seen the pedestrian.
Judge Ellen Burdett said Scott was inattentive in the extreme.
The Kelowna senior will be sentenced in February.
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KELOWNA – A hit-and-run driver sobbed on the witness stand in a Kelowna court room Thursday, as she tried to explain how she ran over and killed a pedestrian, and why she didn’t stop afterwards.
Sharon Marlene Scott, age 72, is accused of driving without due care and attention in relation to the death of 83-year-old Julie Gillespie late one night in November 2014.
Scott testified she wasn’t in a hurry, was well-rested, was driving slowly and carefully and had her headlight hi-beams on as she turned left into a downtown alley, striking Gillespie who was on the sidewalk.
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Scott claims she didn’t see the pedestrian, partially blaming the night-time lighting, saying: “When you’re turning left, it suddenly goes from half-way decent lighting to very dark.”
However, the prosecutor pointed out RCMP crime scene photos show a street lamp across from the alley was lit.
And an officer noted there was plenty of ambient light in the area.
After hitting Gillespie, Scott kept on driving, saying she thought the bump she felt as her tires ran over the victim was a pothole or a rock.
Police photos show there was neither on the roadbed in the vicinity Gillespie was hit.
Scott says if she knew it was a person she would have stopped, offered assistance, and called 9-1-1.
“Do you think I would really do this if I thought I hit her? Come on, I’m a retired registered nurse.”
In his closing arguments, the defence lawyer blamed the victim for being run over.
He say Gillespie was wearing dark clothing, and from surveillance video of the incident, appeared to be completely unaware of her surroundings, striding purposely into the path of a turning vehicle with seemingly no concern for her own safety.
He also claims the driver had the right-of-way over the pedestrian.
The judge will hand down her verdict at a later date.
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