A judge has ruled that a Mississauga, Ont., man accused in a fatal boat crash on Lake Ontario can only be found guilty if the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he was driving the boat at the time.
Superior Court Justice P. Tamara Sugunasiri made her ruling in advance of closing arguments heard on Wednesday at the judge-alone trial for Filip Grkovski, charged with impaired operation and criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm.
Megan Wu, 24, and 34-year-old Julio Abrantes both drowned on May 31, 2022 after Grkovski’s boat struck rocks off Tommy Thompson Park near Toronto’s Outer Harbour Marina, causing the boat to flip over. Four passengers were rescued from the cabin of the vessel and four others swam to safety but Wu and Abrantes were trapped under the boat and could not be saved.
Defence lawyer Alan Gold told court there is reasonable doubt that Grkovski was driving at the time of the tragic event.
A passenger named Eddie Denkha testified for the Crown that Grkovski was operating the boat at the time of the collision but Grkovski, who took the witness stand in his own defence, pointed the finger at Denkha.
No other passengers could say who was driving the 3o-foot pleasure craft at the time of the collision.
Gold told Sugunasiri that Denkha was “exactly the kind of person who would drive dangerously” given Denkha has a relevant criminal record for dangerous driving and “a horrendous Highway Traffic Act record for the kind of conduct that happened to cause this tragedy.”
The defence pointed out that just before the collision, one of the witnesses testified that Denkha had been driving and she told him to slow down. Gold said Denkha also changed his story about what he said Grkovski did.
“In his interview, he told police he was going too fast … to slow down. But at trial, he said that Filip drove too close to shore,” Gold said.
Gold called Denkha’s testimony “a lie” and argued he was either showing off for Wu, in whom he was romantically interested, or testing out the speed of the boat.
Gold said his client went below deck to spend time with his girlfriend, coming up twice and on the second time, it was too late — Denkha had caused the crash.
“The tragedy took place but it’s all on Eddie. It’s not on my client,” Gold concluded.
Assistant Crown attorney Jordan Howard argued that Grkovski’s testimony should not be believed. Howard pointed out that the accused was unwilling to answer certain questions and a number of times gave evidence that was contradicted by others
“Especially about the argument with his girlfriend. One of the reasons he should not be believed is because he was downplaying the arguing, and his evidence contradicts almost everyone,” Howard said.
Howard pointed out that Grkovski also denied there was cocaine use on the boat, despite what others said, and that Grkovski downplayed Denkha’s intoxication and testified he told everyone where the life-jackets were on the boat. None of the passengers testified they knew where the life-jackets were except one woman who had been on the boat before.
As for Denkha’s testimony, Howard said that even if the judge disbelieves him, there is other evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Grkovski was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
Regarding impairment, the prosecutor said that at the time of the crash, toxicology reports found Grkovski had over 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres in his blood. On the issue of criminal negligence, Howard pointed out a number of factors leading up to the crash that showed a wanton disregard for the people on the boat.
“Impairment, speed, lack of safety equipment — these all represent cumulatively a marked and substantial departure from what a reasonable person would have done,” Howard said. “If you believe he was driving the boat, then you have to decide he was criminally negligent at the time.”
Sugunasiri will deliver her judgment on May 20.