The trial for the woman who backed her car into the London south Costco last summer, killing two children, is now over.
Ruth Burger admits to the facts. She backed into the store last July and hit a child and her pregnant mother, causing the deaths of the little girl and the newborn shortly after birth. What’s she’s pleading not guilty to, is being criminally responsible.
You decide from the sworn testimony.
Burger’s foot got stuck under the brake pedal but she backed up anyway. She didn’t take the car out of gear. She didn’t turn it off, pull on the emergency brake or honk her horn. In her own words she, “concentrated on getting her foot free”, which didn’t happen. She cried through her testimony and hasn’t driven again since that day.
Accidents happen. She made a poor judgment call, probably while panicking, and her car was going 43 km/hr when it hit the family. In my view she probably wasn’t criminally responsible. But I do believe that if it were me, I would have pleaded guilty and taken the punishment. I would not have put the family through this ordeal, nor tried to take any blame off myself for the deaths of these children. But that’s me. The judge will render a verdict on June 19th.