The original trial for Christopher Thalheimer was held in 2019 at Melfort Court of Queen's Bench. (File photo/ northeastNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Man convicted after 2016 fatal crash, wins appeal and will face new trial

Mar 9, 2022 | 2:00 PM

Nearly six years after a truck struck a train near Melfort, resulting in a woman’s death, a new trial has been ordered for the man who was behind the wheel.

In July, 2019, Christopher Thalheimer was found guilty of dangerous driving causing death.

The case itself dates back to the early morning hours of July, 3, 2016, when the truck driven by Thalheimer, struck a CN train at a railway crossing.

As a result of the crash, the truck was subsequently dragged 66 km down the tracks before coming to a rest near a slough. Thalheimer suffered severe injuries and his common law wife, Roberta Sanderson, the only passenger, was killed.

The couple would be in the truck for nearly 15 hours before being discovered.

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Trial testimony

During the trial, an RCMP reconstructionist testified Thalheimer was driving as fast as 127 km/h down the road near the cemetary, before slowing to 97 km/h at the time of impact. He based his conclusions on data recorded by an electronic data recorder (EDR) in the airbag control module.

The RCMP officer confirmed the EDR’s do not directly record the vehicle’s ground speed, but receive data from wheel and engine sensors, as well as brake switch status.

Thalheimer in turn testified he had been driving at a far slower speed (between 50 and 70 km/h), and stated that even if someone wanted to, it would have been impossible to drive as fast as the RCMP officer claimed, citing the poor condition of the road.

Thalheimer also said there were portions of the night he could not recall, including the moments before and after impact. When asked about his final memory before the crash, Thalheimer said he was “driving down the road like normal,” going home at a normal speed.

“I didn’t even know I hit a train,” he said. “I didn’t see a train. I didn’t react to a train.”

Roberta Sanderson was 51 when she died. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

Thalheimer, who was 54 at the time could not recall stepping on the brakes, and remembered hearing “screeching” sounds, before suddenly staring at a slough.

He was subsequently found guilty and received an 18 month sentence for the crime. He was also handed a two year driving prohibition.

Thalheimer later appealed both his conviction and his sentence, claiming the trial judge erred by admitting the officer’s “opinion” evidence and refused to admit an article relating to the reliability of EDR evidence.

The appeal decision

In the written decision, Justice J.A. Barrington-Foote noted there was no apparent basis to find Thalheimer’s evidence was not reliable, citing there was a lack of concrete reliable evidence as a whole showing the speed Thalheimer was driving.

And on this point, Barrington Foote claimed the trial judge made a mistake by dealing with Entwistle’s and Thalheimer’s conflicting evidence as a “credibility contest,” too easily dismissing one over the other.

Barrington Foote further noted the truck had not been discovered until 15 hours after, indicating evidence was altered by passersby and driven over by other vehicles.

A new trial date has not yet been set.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell