A man charged with a fatal 2021 crash at UBC that caused the death of two students will be tried by a Supreme Court judge alone and no jury.
Tim Carl Robert Goerner elected his trial type through his lawyer on Wednesday morning. He was not present at Richmond Provincial Court for the appearance.
Goerner also chose to proceed with a preliminary inquiry, which is used in “serious criminal cases” and will determine whether the prosecutors have enough evidence against Goerner to proceed with a trial.
Goerner’s lawyer had tried to enter a plea of not guilty on his behalf, but Richmond provincial court judge Rose Raven decided the plea should be made in person due to the serious nature of the charges.
“I think that the accused should be present for that,” Raven said. As such, the plea will be made at a later date.
Two 18-year-old UBC students, Evan Smith and Emily Selwood, were struck and killed by a vehicle while walking on a sidewalk near Northwest Marine Drive on Sept. 26, 2021.
Goerner was charged in September 2022 and faces four counts of impaired driving causing death and two related to dangerous driving.
His next appearance will be at his preliminary inquiry, which is scheduled to take place from Oct. 3 to 17, 2023.
