Whitehorse Daily Star

Unusual defence sees driver acquitted of charge

A long-time local court worker was acquitted last Friday of driving with a suspended licence due to an unusual defence.

By Emily Blake on February 1, 2017

A long-time local court worker was acquitted last Friday of driving with a suspended licence due to an unusual defence.

Doris Kerr testified she has no memory of getting into her car and driving due to a diabetic condition she has called hypoglycemic unawareness.

This is a condition among some people with Type 1 diabetes that prevents them from recognizing they have low blood sugar.

Endocrinologist Dr. Monika Pawlowska testified in territorial court from Vancouver by phone in Kerr’s defence. Judge Richard Schneider presided.

If blood sugar is deprived from a patient’s brain, Pawlowska said, “they basically become impaired, they can’t think clearly, they don’t know what they’re doing, the memory is impaired.”

Kerr’s licence was suspended after an incident in December at the Whitehorse courthouse.

After returning from a yoga class at the Canada Games Centre over lunch, she was seen driving around the parking garage several times and ended up parked outside in the flower bed.

Deputy Sheriff Jordi Amos testified that Kerr was unable to respond to simple questions at the time and stated, “I could tell she was disoriented, she didn’t look like her normal self.”

A few weeks later, Kerr was found unconscious on her office floor when her partner came to pick her up from work.

“Not having any symptoms or warnings, it’s scary to know in a blink of an eye you can become unconscious without any notice,” Kerr said of the condition.

When asked whether she drove after her licence was suspended, Kerr testified, “I was barely getting off the couch because I was too scared to do anything.”

The recent case stems from an incident on April 30, 2016 where Kerr was found parked on a traffic circle.

She testified her last memory before an RCMP officer tried to get her out of her car was of being at home alone watching TV.

Lawyer David Tarnow said the defence is extremely rare, and that Kerr was doing her best to control the diabetic condition.

“She’s tried to control her diabetes with an extremely rigorous monitoring program every two hours and then she gets up in the middle of the night at 3 a.m. to monitor also and despite that she’s still having these episodes of hypoglycemic unawareness,” he explained.

Kerr now has an insulin pump and hasn’t experienced low blood sugar levels since it was installed in October 2016.

“She’s changed her monitoring regime now that she has a pump which is attached to her body which automatically feeds the necessary insulin to her, so it’s quite a fantastic system,” said Tarnow.

Comments (14)

Up 0 Down 0

DRUM on Feb 7, 2017 at 7:01 pm

She gives genuine people with diabetic condition a bad name. Hundreds of thousands of people have the same condition as her and monitor their every minute of the day to ensure they are safe to drive or operate equipment. She is delusional and hoodwinked the judge.
You better tell me that her drivers licence is taken away and she is using the Handy Bus or Whitehorse Transit
for the rest of her life.

Up 12 Down 12

Mark on Feb 3, 2017 at 7:03 pm

What a load of crap. And you wonder why the legal system is flawed.

Up 13 Down 5

YukonMax on Feb 3, 2017 at 10:41 am

Lots of grey areas...i.e. you are medicated. 3 out of 5 drugs you take "may" impair your ability to drive. If you judge that it doesn't impair you and decide to drive and get into an accident which isn't your fault, are you still liable? Same as when a community nursing station issue a medical travel form to a patient taking such medication(s) and does not include an escort (driver) who's to blame in case of an accident???

Up 30 Down 6

other news feeds on Feb 3, 2017 at 9:27 am

CBC reported that Ms. Kerr has sold her car. As reported on both sights she has an insulin pump to prevent this from happening again. It is time to leave her alone she is doing everything she can to maintain a healthy lifestyle and not injure herself or others.

Up 22 Down 5

June Jackson on Feb 2, 2017 at 5:23 pm

Moose Dr. your point is very well taken, and right on. While I understand the condition from which she suffered, she and her husband knew for a long time and several incidents that this was the case. Was there a ringer when the door opened? Did husband hide the car keys? There WERE steps that could have been taken to protect her and the public... and neither of them took any of them.

This defense has been used before and is in case law somewhere. Which is why the sitting justice acquitted her. But, she still never had to take any responsibility for failing to do everything she could to not have black out incidents happen. The public is lucky she didn't kill someone.

When asked whether she drove after her licence was suspended, Kerr testified, “I was barely getting off the couch because I was too scared to do anything.” I also..don't see a clear "NO" in there.

Up 23 Down 7

Moose Dr. on Feb 2, 2017 at 12:33 pm

You've gotta have sympathy for this woman's condition. It is hard to hold her responsible when she is blissfully unaware of what she is doing.

However, it is not a driver's license suspension that keeps her from driving -- it is lack of access to car keys. This woman needs to have the physical keys to her car removed from her. They must be kept where she can't get to them. Any other solution is an accident waiting to happen.

Up 23 Down 3

PL on Feb 2, 2017 at 12:25 pm

Down South at the moment. I helped pull a bleeding diabetic man from a smashed up car last week. Oxygen tanks in the back seat, lucky one didn't take him out in the smash-up. I know it's tough to lose one's driving privileges, but he got the "nods" and crossed over the center line and into the mountain side. Obviously he shouldn't have been driving, lucky it didn't become a head-on and killed an innocent.

Up 21 Down 11

PH on Feb 2, 2017 at 10:16 am

@Just Say'in Do you Read what you write before you submit it, because if you did you would clearly realize that it's a ridiculous comment. First, if you get pulled over for being impaired they will test you. If you are diabetic you will not test impaired for alcohol. And If you are diabetic, and impaired due to a diabetic hyper or hypoglycemic you get your diabetes under control and then you will not be impaired in the future. Clearly this will not "open the gates for all sorts of other excuses."

Up 35 Down 11

moose101 on Feb 2, 2017 at 5:45 am

She is a big accident waiting to happen . Yeh all you bleeding hearts supporting her on her condition and you are right but will you change your tune when she runs down a dozen school children at that same traffic circle ? She has a very dangerous medical condition and should not be allowed to drive.

Up 23 Down 6

Anonymous on Feb 1, 2017 at 7:26 pm

No Just Sayin' You are absolutely wrong. My father had this condition when he was about 52. He was pulled over by the police and had no idea who he was or where he was going. This was after doing the same routine of driving the exact route he had been driving to work for over 30 years with the same company. He found out shortly after that he had diabetes. About 10 years after that they diagnosed him with dementia. He would believe he was still married ( they split up 20+years before) and still believed he had a care. Things happen which are not their fault. Please understand special circumstances when people honestly do not understand what they are doing. It is a part of life as is Alzheimer's for some.

Up 19 Down 22

June Jackson on Feb 1, 2017 at 5:58 pm

There are so many diabetics here that this defense just became the new get out of jail and keep driving card.

Just Sayin' : totally right

Up 26 Down 5

Wayne on Feb 1, 2017 at 5:49 pm

I wonder if the Driver Control Board had anything to say about this.

Up 21 Down 16

some things will never change on Feb 1, 2017 at 5:38 pm

Just as good as the "dog ate my homework" defense. The just-us business takes care of it's own, and couldn't care less about the rest of society.

Up 25 Down 46

Just Say'in on Feb 1, 2017 at 3:10 pm

Impaired is Impaired. It does not matter what the impairment is. This will open the flood gates for all sorts of other excuses. I bet a lot of Alcohol impaired drivers will tell you they have no memory of the event but they are still prosecuted. The danger is to others, that is why the law is there.

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