Windsor defence lawyer Brian Ducharme says the Crown Attorney will have a lot of work ahead after an arrest was made in a deadly bus crash that shocked the nation.
The RCMP in Saskatchewan have charged 29-year-old Calgary native Jaskirat Singh Sidhu with 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury. He's the driver of the semi-tractor trailer that tore through a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team — claiming the lives of 16 people.
Ducharme tells AM800 News it will be a tough go for whoever defends Singh Sidhu.
"This one has had some public attention obviously because of the number of deaths and the country seems to have focused on it," he says.
While the defence will be in the spotlight, Ducharme says the real pressure will be on the prosecution to prove criminal charges against the driver.
"There's a very heavy onus on the crown to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt that this was in fact dangerous driving and not just an accident," says Ducharme. "They must feel that as a result of this investigation that they do have the evidence but it will have to be tested in court."
Officers conducted 60 interviews as part of the investigation and took 6,000 photographs of the scene.
— with files from AM800's Peter Langille.