Impaired driver who drove over victim sentenced to six months

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on July 15, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

A woman who drove over a female victim following a night at the bar three years ago, has been sentenced to six months of incarceration.
Jessica Lee Gearing, who was charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, was in Lethbridge provincial court Thursday where provincial court Judge Kristin Ailsby sentenced her to six months of custody, followed by 12 months of probation and a three-year driving prohibition.
Gearing must have absolutely no contact with the victim, attend for assessment and counseling in the areas of emotional regulation and alcohol and substance use disorder, and was ordered to provide a DNA sample.  
Gearing, who was present in the court room, was taken into custody immediately after her sentencing. 
Gearing, 33, had been drinking in a bar in July 2019 and was preparing to drive away when several friends tried to stop her from leaving. One of her friends stood behind Gearing’s car to prevent her from leaving and was warned by a bouncer to get out of the way before she was injured. However, the woman said Gearing wouldn’t run her over or leave, as long as she was behind the car, but Gearing did. 
The woman tried to step back and get out of the way, but she tripped and fell. The vehicle drove over her legs and lower body, then Gearing drove away, dragging the woman some distance before leaving her injured on the road.
Gearing, who the Crown previously noted did not realize she had driven over anyone, was arrested a couple of hours later at her westside residence.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Ailsby said that Gearing’s level of impairment was not exactly known as her readings were taken after the offence occurred, but her breath samples taken at the earliest opportunity did not have aggravated readings.
“As for her driving pattern it’s concerning, and it speaks to the gravity of the offence and ultimately her moral culpability,” said Ailsby.
Gearing was offered an alternative way to get home, but refused, and was in the driver’s seat and had people asking her to stop. She preceded despite their insistence, and she didn’t look when she backed over the victim. Moreover, she didn’t have a license, she was driving without insurance, and she was driving a vehicle that was not registered, added Ailsby.
“I appreciate her driving pattern wasn’t as extremely problematic as in other cases… but what is so very obvious, is that this offence was so absolutely avoidable,” said Ailsby.
Judge Ailsby said that as for mitigating factors there is one obvious one, her remorse.
“I appreciate that we would normally count her guilty plea as a mitigating factor, however she brought an application on the eve of sentencing last summer to strike that plea. I did not ultimately accept that application, it’s hard therefore to see how the guilty plea which she sought to withdraw is mitigating, notwithstanding I have considered it in that light,” said Ailsby.   
—with files from Delon Shurtz

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