Supreme Court upholds conviction in Yellowknife dangerous driving death
Hannah Lafferty's appeal rejected by Canada's top court after she struck and killed Germaine Mantla in Yellowknife in April 2022.
Canada's top court rejects appeal in fatal Yellowknife driving case
Canada's Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of Hannah Lafferty, upholding her conviction for dangerous driving causing death, ca.news.yahoo.com reports.
Lafferty struck Germaine Mantla with her father's Ford F150 truck outside the Bison Estates apartment complex in Yellowknife in April 2022. Mantla, a bystander, sustained serious injuries and later died.
At trial, Lafferty argued she had acted in self-defence — driving recklessly to escape a woman who was hanging onto her vehicle. The N.W.T. Supreme Court judge rejected that argument and found her guilty last year.
Lafferty then appealed her conviction. A majority of the N.W.T. Court of Appeal dismissed that appeal earlier this year, concluding the trial judge had correctly applied the law of self-defence. One dissenting judge argued the law had been interpreted too narrowly and would have ordered a new trial.
The case proceeded to the Supreme Court of Canada, which issued its ruling on Tuesday. The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the original conviction, finding no basis to intervene.
Lafferty was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and will face a three-year driving ban upon completing her sentence.
Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)