Cash bail and a lengthy set of conditions have been granted to a Stettler man accused in connection with a single-vehicle collision that killed a teenaged girl.
Trevor James Dahl, 19, was in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday to address his release. Dahl has been in custody since Feb. 11 when he was charged with impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and refusing to provide police with a sample of his breath.
Stettler RCMP allege that Dahl was driving a pickup truck that left a rural road near Erskine at about 1:30 a.m. and plowed into a stand of trees. Investigators said 17-year-old Koralea Boettger, a passenger in the vehicle, died at the scene.
Members of Boettger’s family sat at one side of the courtroom, behind the prosecutor’s table, while Dahl’s family, including his mother, stepmother and father, sat at the other side, near the prisoner box where he was seated during the bail hearing.
Dahl entered the box with his head bowed and his hands at his sides, and then sat with his hands on his knees and his head bowed while his lawyer, Andrew Fong of Edmonton, argued for his release.
After hearing submissions from Fong and from Crown prosecutor Murray McPherson, Judge Gordon Deck set out terms for Dahl’s release, which include cash bail of $2,000 and numerous conditions, including that he have no contact, directly or indirectly, with the Boettger family.
He could not be released on Wednesday because the courthouse had closed by the time the hearing was completed.
Dahl returns to court in Stettler on April 26.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com