An anniversary turns into a tragedy | Guilty of killing her best friend while drunk driving

(Joliette) Stéphanie Tanguay celebrated her 35^e birthday with two friends. Alcohol flowed freely. Despite a warning, the birthday girl drove drunk. A decision that cost the life of her best friend. Convicted on the whole line on Tuesday, she faces a long prison sentence.

“The exit from the road results mainly from a lack of attention related to the impaired state of the accused and the fact that her speed was almost double that permitted in a zone of 50 km / h”, summed up the judge Normand Bonin Tuesday, at the Joliette courthouse.

Stéphanie Tanguay, 38, was thus found guilty of three counts of having caused the death of Jasmine Charette, on November 8, 2019, by her criminal negligence, while driving her vehicle while impaired and with an alcohol level higher than the legal limit.

Two hours after the collision, Stéphanie Tanguay had a blood alcohol level of 0.116 (116 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood), therefore higher than the permitted limit of 0.08.

“A person who has been drinking and driving should be aware that his reflexes and his judgment may no longer be the same”, recalls Judge Bonin.

This evidence, Michèle Parsons knew it. Before leaving with a driving service, around 12:30 a.m., she had warned her friends Stéphanie Tanguay and Jasmine Charette not to drive their vehicle. The trio had consumed bottles of wine, sparkling wine and shooters for hours in a restaurant-bar in Terrebonne.

But this warning did not have a saving effect, because Stéphanie Tanguay took her car anyway. Neither she nor her passenger Jasmine Charette were wearing their seatbelts. Surveillance video tendered into evidence shows how erratic his driving was around 3:20 a.m. in a restaurant parking lot.

In the images, the accused’s vehicle can be seen driving up a sidewalk at the wrong entrance to the Tim Hortons drive-thru. It then turns back, but struggles to drive in a straight line. She squarely brushes against a lamppost during her maneuver, yet at low speed.

According to the judge, these images show “manifestly erratic” maneuvers and are “clear indications” of impaired faculties of Stéphanie Tanguay. Also, when paying, the driver looks for her card for a long time and even takes 1 minute 30 to make the payment. The restaurant employee then judges her client to be intoxicated.

The tragic ending comes just a few minutes later. By taking rue Armand-Majeau, towards Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Stéphanie Tanguay is traveling at more than 90 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. A slight curve, however well advertised, is on the horizon. However, the driver continues in a straight line, towards the ditch. The shock is brutal. Jasmine Charette dies instantly. The car is demolished.

According to the judge, Stéphanie Tanguay was not “a victim of the configuration of the road and the environment”, as the defense argued. On the contrary, her responsibility is total: she consumed a “significant” quantity of alcohol, she drove despite her friend’s warning, and this, at high speed, and without a seat belt.

In addition, she demonstrated a “wild and reckless” disregard for her life and that of her passenger, said the judge.

“We are satisfied with the decision of the judge who followed the prosecution’s theory in the case. This story involving M^me Tanguay is a tragedy. Nothing will unfortunately bring the victim back to life, but we hope that the judgment on guilt will put some balm on the wounds of the family members and friends of the victim and will allow them to move forward in their journey towards healing “commented to The Press Crown prosecutor M.^e Jade Coderre, who teamed up with M^e Alexe Champagne-Lessard.

Sentencing submissions will take place at the end of August to allow time for the defense to produce a report to establish the profile of the offender. This is defended by Mr.^e Roxane Hamelin and M.^e Elodie Leygues.