'This is unusual that I have to engage in this exercise'
The judge presiding over the case of an engineer who drowned in a Nova Scotia Power reservoir more than four years ago has redacted the victim impact statement delivered by the victim’s sister, according to a report.
"This is unusual that I have to engage in this exercise," said Judge Elizabeth Buckle of the Halifax provincial court on Thursday, according to CBC.
The judge said she would vet the statement delivered by Nicole Gnazdowsky overnight.
Nicole is sister to Andrew Gnazdowsky, 26, who died in the Marshall Falls Nova Scotia Power reservoir in Sheet Harbour on Oct. 16, 2020.
Marshall was helping a colleague conduct an underwater mapping called bathymetric survey at Nova Scotia Power's hydroelectric system. They were using a piece of equipment that was controlled remotely and floated on the surface of the water. The two had travelled from Saint John to collect data at the dam.
On that day, the equipment malfunctioned. Gnazdowsky drowned while trying to retrieve the equipment.
On Thursday, defence lawyers requested that Judge Buckle review Nicole’s statement, arguing it contained so much inadmissible information that she should be given the opportunity to work with the court’s victim services to rewrite it, according to the CBC report.
Crown attorney Alex Keaveny agreed there were parts of the statement that the judge could not rely on when considering her sentence for the companies.
Buckle later ruled that significant portions of the statement would be redacted because Nicole made claims that have not been proven, according to the report.
Previously, the defence argued that when Andrew drowned and died on the job, he may have been under the influence of cannabis and unfit for the job.
Still, Nova Scotia Power, Brunswick Engineering and Consulting, and Gemtec Consulting Engineers And Scientists Ltd. were all charged for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act relating to the case.
