The 22-year-old driver charged in connection to a 2021 collision killing two UBC students has been released on conditions.
Goerner appeared before Richmond Provincial Court in person on Friday accompanied by two lawyers to renew his release order.
He appeared expressionless as one of his lawyers, Vincent Michaels, told Richmond provincial court Judge Glenn Lee that the investigation on the case started a year ago and the conditions upon which Goerner was released have now lapsed.
Upon hearing from Michaels and Crown Counsel Michelle Merry, Lee decided to release Goerner without financial obligations with three conditions: he is not to leave B.C., he must go to Richmond RCMP next week for fingerprinting and he must surrender all his travel documents and not obtain any new ones.
Goerner had surrendered his two passports to the clerk earlier in the morning.
A statement released by RCMP on Wednesday Sept. 7 announced that Goerner was charged with two counts each of impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and impaired driving.
The 18-year-old UBC students, Evan Smith and Emily Selwood, were walking on a sidewalk near Northwest Marine Drive at approximately 1:46 a.m. when they were struck and killed by a vehicle.
“For those that didn’t know him, know that an intelligent, conscientious, sincere and caring human being was in the prime of his youth when he was killed,” reads a statement by Debbie O’Day-Smith and Adam Smith, Evan’s parents.
Both students’ parents wrote that while they hoped that the “individual responsible will be brought to justice on fact and evidence with a successful conviction,” it would not “bring Emily and Evan back” and their hearts “will forever be broken.”
“Charges, court, and convictions of course do not tell the whole story, or the toll that impaired drivers take on victims and survivors. Emily was so much more than just a tragic statistic, and we want her to be remembered for what she accomplished in her short life,” reads the statement by Laurie and Duncan Selwood.
A UBC memorial fund was created in Emily’s memory to “help inspire students studying social sciences who want to make the world a better place.”
The matter has been adjourned until Nov. 2, 2022, when Goerner is expected to attend the Initial Appearance Court in Richmond.
