Miller (Police Sergeant) v Celestine

• Jurisdiction: Bermuda
• Judgment Date: 19 April 2021
• Docket Number: Appellate Jurisdiction 2020 No 21
• Court: Supreme Court (Bermuda)

[2021] Bda LR 35

In The Supreme Court of Bermuda

Appellate Jurisdiction 2020 No 21

Between:

Fiona Miller (Police Sergeant)

Appellant

and

Latasha Celestine

Respondent

Ms S Simons for the Appellant

Mr M Daniels for the Respondent

The following cases were referred to in the judgment:

Miller (Police Sergeant) v Richardson [2018] Bda LR 90

Miller (Police Sergeant) v Webb [2020] Bda LR 63

R v Galbraith [1981] 2 All ER 1060

Careless driving — Appeal against ruling of no case to answer — Misdirection by magistrate

JUDGMENT of Subair Williams J

Introduction

1. The Respondent, Ms Latasha Celestine, was tried in the Magistrates' Court on Information 19TR05071 for a single count of careless driving contrary to section 37A of the Road Traffic Act 1947. Ms Celestine, a police officer for the Bermuda Police Service, was driving a marked police car on 13 February 2020 in the area of St David's Road and Stock's Road when she collided into a civilian motor cyclist, Ms Hadas Wolffe, carrying her unborn baby and seven year old son who was a front passenger in a standing position on the same motor cycle.

2. On 2 September 2020, after the Crown closed its case at trial, Magistrate Tyrone Chin ruled that the Respondent had no case to answer and discharged her accordingly. Pursuant to sections 4(1)(a) and 4(2)(a) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1952, the Crown filed a Notice of Appeal on 11 September 2020 against Magistrate Chin's decision and for an order of retrial.

3. Having received oral and written submissions from Counsel, I reserved judgment which I now give on the below reasoning.

The Evidence

4. The Crown's case, in part, consisted of the evidence of the Complainant, Ms. Hadas Wolffe and two other civilian witnesses, namely Ms. Kelly Ingham and Ms. Samantha Swainson. Additionally, the prosecution called four police witnesses, PS 741 Peter Thompson (scene photographer), PC 2350 Rawl Massiah (accident investigator of road traffic collisions) and attending officers, PC 2280 Stephen Dennie and PS 2050 Courtney Williams.

5. At approximately 7:45am on 13 February 2019 the Complainant, Ms Wolffe, was riding her motorcycle, registration number CL227, travelling in a westerly direction on St David's Road. The Respondent was driving in a marked police vehicle, registration number 47438, on the same road in the eastbound lane. At the junction of St David's Road and Stock's Road the Respondent executed a turn on Stock's Road when she collided into the Complainant resulting in personal injury to the Complainant and her young son in addition to serious vehicular damage.

6. The damage to the police car was primarily located at the front offside (i.e. the driver's side of the vehicle). It was unchallenged on the Crown's evidence that the damage to the police car consisted of: (i) a removed nearside fog light housing; (ii) a missing front grill; (iii) a ripped front fender together with its corked backing on the driver's side and (iv) indentations on the bonnet.

7. The damage to the bike on the Crown's evidence was stated to be: (i) a dislodged instrument and dislodged instrument panel; (ii) broken side fairings; (iii) a cracked front wheel which was pushed back onto the frame.

8. It is common ground (or at least unchallenged evidence) that both vehicles as well as most of the vehicular debris were located in the westbound lane at the entrance lane to Stock's Road.

9. In the Record of Appeal (“the Record”) the magistrate's note of the Complainant's evidence in chief describing the 13 February 2019 is, in part, as follows:

“I was on my way into work with my son. On my way to work I was hit off my bike. It was pretty much like a movie. It felt like slow motion. I flew over the front of the police car and landed on the right and my son was on the left. I immediately jumped up and went to him…his side. He was whimpering and said that his side was hurting him. And then it just went quiet. He just stopped responding. So I started to tap his face and arm to get his attention and wake him up and so that was a few minutes. It felt like forever and then he started to respond. He was crying. I'm not sure what time or where the paramedics came. I do know there were two ladies to ask if I am okay. I asked them if they could call my son's...