Dustin Zinter found guilty on all charges related to fatal 2015 Cedar crash

Zinter kept his head down while scribbling notes in the prisoners box for the first half of the nearly two-hour oral ruling from Justice Baird. Zinter eventually dropped his notepad and was visibly distraught and wiping tears from his eyes.

In his marathon ruling, Justice Baird said the Crown successfully argued Zinter’s northbound truck crossed the centre line and hit Plato’s oncoming truck. Baird said testimony from several witnesses confirmed Zinter ran from the scene and failed to provide a breath sample.

Baird said he rejected numerous denials from Zinter.

“I did not believe any of the accused testimony, it did not raise a reasonable doubt in my mind concerning any element of the three charges.”

Baird said Zinter’s behaviour behind the wheel the night of the crash showed a dramatic departure from normal driving.

“In my view in fact the level of the accused disregard for other motorists on the roadway was shocking and appalling.”

He took particular exception to Zinter’s claim he didn’t realize he was involved in a serious crash, noting numerous witnesses reported Zinter was apologetic on scene.

“How could the accused be unaware he had just been a major motor vehicle collision? A collision in which the other vehicle had been catastrophically damaged and its driver seriously injured.”

The Crown argued Zinter was impaired by alcohol and using his phone just prior to the crash.

Justice Baird referenced testimony from a Nanaimo Hospital doctor, who reported Zinter admitted to drinking alcohol before and after the crash. Baird also noted a recorded interview with a Nanaimo RCMP officer, in which Zinter stated his phone records would explain how the crash occurred.

During the trial, Zinter continuously denied testimony from many crown witnesses, many of whom were emergency responders who dealt with Zinter following the collision.

Zinter denied both running from the scene and failing to provide a breath sample, saying he was actually disoriented after the crash from a serious head injury. An NRGH doctor didn’t confirm Zinter’s self-diagnosis of a head injury.

He also argued it was in fact Plato who caused the crash, arguing unsuccessfully her truck had safety defects and drifted into his lane.

No witnesses were called by Zinter to defend his case.

About 20 members of Plato’s family and friends were in court for the ruling.

A prison sentence was put off in favour of a pre-sentence report. Baird said he wanted to learn more about Zinter’s background and a report with a psychiatric component would be helpful.

Zinter’s strange trial included the firing of high-profile lawyer Stephen Taylor after the Crown concluded its case on June 22. Zinter was also arrested during the trial for failing to show up for court and had several adjournment applications thrown out.

His original trial in August 2017 was cancelled just prior to starting after Zinter fired a different lawyer.

Zinter was represented briefly by several different lawyers during his recently concluded trial, before ultimately representing himself. He called the NanaimoNewsNOW newsroom from the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre on Saturday and said, among other things, he knew Justice Baird would find him guilty and he planned to appeal.

Members of Plato’s family declined commenting to the media until the sentencing hearing concludes.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Dustin Zinter found guilty on all charges related to fatal 2015 Cedar crash

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