Crown appeals stay of proceedings in Taylor Ashley Kennedy case

Less than one month after Judge Jane Wooten delivered her decision in Saskatoon Provincial Court, the Crown is appealing the stay of proceedings in the Taylor Ashley Kennedy case.

Saskatoon senior crown prosecutor Michael Pilon said the appeal was filed on Jan. 6.

“After careful consideration and review, public prosecutions has concluded there are grounds to file a notice of appeal in this case,” he said.

Pilon didn’t say what those grounds may be.

Kennedy was charged with impaired driving causing death while exceeding the prescribed concentration of THC. The charge was laid six months after 9-year-old Baeleigh Maurice’s death on Sept. 9, 2021.

Maurice was riding her scooter that day along 33rd Street West, and in a marked crosswalk when she was hit by Kennedy, who was driving a pickup truck.

During a voire dire — trial within a trial — Kennedy testified to micro-dosing on magic mushrooms and using cannabis in the 24-hours before the fatal crash. That testimony was allowed into the trial proper.

Kennedy was not in the courtroom on the final day of the trial when Wooten stayed the case, but appeared via video.

According to Wooten, the charges were stayed because the case exceeded the 18-month window set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in its landmark 2016 decision R v. Jordan, running approximately six months past the allowable time frame.

Defence lawyer Thomas Hynes said he was happy with the decision to stay the case, but also expected the Crown to appeal.