Nearly three years after an 18-year-old died while tubing on an Okanagan lake, the man accused of driving the boat that killed him has yet to confirm a trial date.
Ryan William Symington, 30, faces five charges, including impaired driving causing death, in connection with the death of 18-year-old Marco Corbin on Aug. 16, 2011.
Charges were only sworn in April 2014 after a long police investigation.
Corbin died when he was run over by a boat while being towed on a tube by another boat out on Osoyoos Lake.
At a pre-trial conference Thursday in provincial court in Penticton, Crown counsellor Deb Drissell said one of two prosecutors who will eventually handle the case won’t arrive in the city until next month, so dates haven’t even been set yet for a preliminary inquiry to determine if there is enough evidence to send the matter to trial in B.C. Supreme Court.
Defence counsel Balfour Der, who appeared by phone, said he’s prepared to make “a fair number of admissions” to shorten the length of time required for the inquiry.
Symington, who was not in court Thursday, was an Alberta resident at the time of the incident.
He’s also charged with impaired driving causing death, failure to stop at the scene of an accident causing bodily harm, having care or control of a vessel while impaired, and obstruction of justice.
The maximum penalty for impaired driving causing death is life in jail.