The truck driven by McCallum ended up on the front lawn of a nearby property. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Man charged in fatal crash elects to be tried at Court of King’s Bench

Jan 24, 2025 | 9:29 AM

After over a dozen hearings, a Prince Albert court case involving the tragic passing of a senior after a crash in the city, is showing signs of moving forward.

Bernard McCallum, the man accused of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, was not present when the case was most recently discussed Thursday afternoon at Prince Albert Provincial Court. His lawyer Patrick Piche confirmed election for a judge alone trial at Court of King’s Bench.

A date for a preliminary hearing was also scheduled for May 23. The purpose of the hearing at provincial court will be to hear all the Crown’s evidence and determine if there’s enough to commit the case for trial, and also determine if the charges laid best fit the crime.

On June 11, 2024, 83-year-old Iris Prokopie was behind the wheel of a four-door sedan at the intersection of sixth Ave and 22 Street East. Police, at the time said while attempting to turn east onto 22nd Street, Prokopie’s vehicle was “struck at a high rate of speed” by a northbound truck.

About a week and a half later, she passed away in hospital.

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Throughout the court process, Prokopie’s family members have attended court and her son was there on Thursday, along with Prokopie’s niece.

“I do question the timeline. It seems that other cases proceed a lot quicker than this one has, whatever the reason may be and it seems like an awful lot of court time to get nowhere,” he said

Adding it will be another four months before the case returns to court, the son stated they will be past the one year mark after the incident before any kind of resolution is brought forward or happening.

“So we just have to have faith that it’s gonna play out the way it should and that things won’t get swept under the carpet or minimized as time goes on, and the importance of it diminishes and the effect that it had on many people diminishes,” he said. “We just want it to be over and done and you know, find out what happens and everybody can move on with life.”

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

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