Public safety demands jail sentence, judge decides in fatal 2021 drunk driving crash

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Quinton Courchene was found not guilty of being behind the wheel in a drunk driving crash that killed his uncle, but he hasn’t escaped a jail sentence.

Courchene, 48, stood trial last year accused of switching seats with his passenger and victim, 65-year-old Bradley Courchene, before emergency responders arrived at the Pine Falls-area crash scene on Nov. 8, 2021.

Provincial court Judge Rob Finlayson ruled while there was no conclusive evidence Courchene was driving at the time of the crash, security video left no doubt he was behind the wheel a short time earlier when the two men left the Papertown Inn bar.

Finlayson acquitted Courchene of impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death and convicted him of the lesser offences of impaired driving and dangerous driving.

On Wednesday, Finlayson sentenced Courchene to 16 months in jail, rejecting a defence recommendation he be allowed to serve a conditional sentence in the community.

“Both individuals who were in the vehicle in question were severely intoxicated,” Finlayson said. “Neither one of them should have been behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. The risk that was taken because of the intoxication of both individuals resulted in the horrible death.”

Finlayson said Courchene poses an ongoing risk to the community and pointed to a criminal record that includes a prior conviction in 2009 for impaired driving, as well as flight from police and assaulting a police officer.

“A real jail sentence is the only sentence that is consistent with public safety and (denouncing) the accused’s actions,” Finlayson said.

Outside court, Bradley Courchene’s daughters Crissy Courchene and Linsay Courchene remained adamant Quinton was driving at the time of the crash.

Crissy Courchene said the family had cut all ties with Quinton Courchene in 2009 following an “incident” and concerns about his lifestyle. Crissy alleged Quinton was exploiting her father prior to his death.

“My dad was a good, kind man; he didn’t turn anybody away,” she said. “Naively, he opened his door to dangerous people. We kept telling him Quint is not safe, he shouldn’t be around here.”

Defence lawyer Zach Kinahan argued at trial earlier this year that Quinton and Bradley had swapped positions in the vehicle a short time after leaving the Papertown Inn bar and that no witnesses could place Quinton in the driver’s seat around the time the vehicle went off the road.

Security video shows both men drinking at the bar that evening and Quinton walking out, getting into the driver’s seat of Bradley’s 2017 Jeep Patriot and driving away at a high rate of speed.

Due to the location of the security camera, the video did not capture Bradley Courchene entering the vehicle, nor was he visible as the vehicle left the parking lot, Finlayson said in his December 2024 ruling.

A motorist testified she was driving on Highway 11 a short time later when Courchene’s vehicle came up behind her at high speed and veered into the oncoming lane in an attempt to pass her. Courchene’s vehicle returned to position behind the woman’s car and then tried to pass her on the shoulder when the vehicle slid into the ditch and struck an embankment.

“In the absence of any evidence to the contrary… I believe that the court can infer that Mr. Quinton Courchene was still operating the vehicle when the incident with the (motorist’s) vehicle occurred,” Finlayson said.

A short time later, Courchene’s vehicle was in a ditch just metres away on the other side of the highway, the driver’s side of the vehicle flat against the ground.

Emergency responders arrived to find Bradley Courchene in the driver’s seat area, with his legs wedged under the console. Quinton Courchene was in the back seat.

“So my question is: if Quinton Courchene was driving the vehicle at the time of the fatal incident, how did Mr. Bradley Courchene locate himself in the driver’s seat and then get himself lodged into the seat in such a way that his legs were underneath the centre console?” Finlayson said.

When the vehicle landed on its side, both occupants would have come to rest on the driver’s side, especially if they weren’t wearing seatbelts, Finlayson said.

If Bradley Courchene was in the passenger seat, Quinton should have remained in the driver’s seat following the rollover, because there was nowhere else to go.

“And if he wasn’t, the only logical explanation… is that Quinton Courchene wasn’t in the driver’s seat to begin with.”

Finlayson said he could not rely on evidence Quinton Courchene had replied “yes” when a police officer asked if he was driving, given his state of intoxication and degree of comprehension.

A pathologist testified Bradley Courchene died as a result of a broken neck in combination with acute alcohol intoxication. At the time of his death, he had a blood-alcohol level of .386, more than four times the legal limit for driving.

Finlayson ruled that evidence of Quinton Courchene’s blood-alcohol level was inadmissible, finding that police did not demand a breath or blood sample from him until 90 minutes after the rollover.

“Due to the inexcusable error of the RCMP, the Crown was not able to prove the actual blood-alcohol level of Quinton Courchene,” Finlayson said Wednesday.

But the testimony of police and emergency responders at the scene and other witnesses, who said Courchene was slurring, stumbling and had a strong smell of alcohol, was sufficient to establish he was “grossly intoxicated,” Finlayson said in his earlier ruling.

Court records show Courchene has prior convictions for theft and weapon offences and is set to stand trial next year on sex assault charges.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca