ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A year after a judge determined there wasn’t enough evidence to send Brandon Quilty to trial on a charge of dangerous driving causing death, Quilty admitted his guilt and opted to go straight to sentencing.
Quilty’s case was called briefly in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s Tuesday morning, where he withdrew the not guilty plea he had previously entered in connection with the 2017 death of Justin Murrins. He entered a guilty plea instead, cancelling a two-week jury trial that had been scheduled to start at the end of next month.
Quilty will be called again on Jan. 23, 2020 for a sentencing hearing. The delayed date was set at the request of his lawyer, Erin Breen.
Quilty, 24, was driving a Corvette when it crashed on Blackhead Road, near Shea Heights, in May 2017, landing on its roof. Both Quilty and passenger Murrins, 27, were taken to hospital with serious injuries. Murrins died two days later, and Quilty was charged.
Murrins’ family members have described him as loyal, big-hearted and a free spirit, and have said a number of people benefitted from his organ donation.
After a preliminary inquiry last summer, a provincial court judge ruled there was not enough evidence to send Quilty to trial. The Crown, however, elected to proceed by direct indictment, receiving permission from the attorney general to proceed with the charge anyway.
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