Who filled the pothole? Police questioned at trial of crash that paralyzed cyclist

Defence lawyer Pamela Large-Moran grilled a Charlottetown police officer as the trial resumed Tuesday of a driver accused of causing a crash that left a cyclist paralyzed.

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The cyclist, Alan Stanley, now uses a wheelchair to get around, following the crash last August on Brackley Point Road in Charlottetown.The driver of the car, Jordan Arsenault-Loeman, is pleading not guilty to making an unsafe left turn under the Highway Traffic Act.

The defence lawyer suggested apothole in the roadmay have played a role in the crash, and questioned a police officer on the stand about what happened to it.

"Who filled the pothole shortlyafter the crash?" Large-Moran asked Charlottetown Const. Ron Kennedy.

"I don't know. It wasn't me," testified Kennedy, who conducted the investigation by Charlottetown police.

Large-Moranalso questioned police about the lack of notes taken by officers at the crash scene.Kennedy has testified he tookphotographsof the scene, but wrote his notes a short time later, after he had left.

The defence also pointed out police did not make use ofdatain a GPS that was on the bicycle when the crash occurred.

'Not a murder investigation'

Provincial court Judge John Douglas tempered the defence's criticisms.

"Itwas a highway traffic collision, not a murder investigation," Douglas told court.

"In the end, I will decide if it was an unsafe left turn, based on the evidence we do have."

Crown attorney Doug Drysdalehas completed his prosecution.The defence intends to call its own traffic analyst to testify as an expert witness.

Neither the driver nor the cyclist were present in court Tuesday.The trial is slated to conclude Wednesday.

Douglasmay deliverhis decision at a later date.

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