A 32-year-old Burnaby man has been handed a $2,000 fine and one-year driving prohibition after pleading guilty to driving drunk during a crash that left a motorcyclist disfigured and blind in one eye on Christmas Day two years ago.
Jacky Jin Zheng was driving on Canada Way near Goodlad Street at about 2 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2019 when he turned in front of a motorcycle coming the other way, according to agreed facts presented in Vancouver provincial court Tuesday.
The motorcycle, which police later determined was going 69 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, slammed into Zheng’s vehicle, leaving the motorcyclist, David Sullivan, with serious injuries, including the loss of vision in one eye and facial disfigurement that doctors are still in the process of trying to fix , according to Crown prosecutor Phil Sebellin.
At the scene, officers noticed the smell of alcohol on Zheng’s breath, and two tests showed he had blood alcohol levels of 148 milligrams and 120 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood – well over the 80 mg level for criminal charges.
Zheng was originally charged in November 2020 with two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, but those charges were stayed after he pleaded guilty to drunk driving Tuesday.
Sebellin called on provincial court Judge Reginald Harris to impose a $2,000 fine and two-year driving ban, pointing to Zheng’s high blood-alcohol level as an aggravating factor.
But Zheng’s lawyer, Kyla Lee, argued for a shorter one-year driving ban.
She pointed out that Zheng had already successfully completed a 90-day driving prohibition and responsible driver program imposed by the province’s superintendent of motor vehicles in relation to the case and hadn’t had any issues since.
She also noted Zheng’s guilty plea as a mitigating factor.
“He feels terrible about what happened and about how badly the other person was injured in this collision,” Lee said.
Lee further noted Zheng still faces possible consequences from ICBC and a lawsuit related to the crash, so the fine and driving ban "wouldn’t be the end of the road” for him.
In sentencing Zheng to the $2,000 fine and one-year ban, Harris noted Zheng had no criminal record and only a dated and “minimal” driving record.
Zheng had also pleaded guilty and, based on the facts presented, had been a “model of cooperation” during the investigation, according to Harris
“Normally in these cases I’d been inclined to the Crown’s position; however, when I take into account the mitigation – the absence of a record, the guilty plea, the long break in time (without further driving infractions) – and the fact that there will be substantial consequences further flowing from this, I’m of the view that a $2,000 fine and a one-year driving prohibition is fit and appropriate,” Harris said.
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