Keith Dunford must surrender himself into custody after the Saskatchewan Court of Appeals dismissed his appeals of his conviction and sentence. Dunford had been released in December of 2015 pending appeal, hours after he was sentenced to two years less a day in the death of Ashley Richards, a flag person in a construction site along Highway 39, near Midale, in August  of 2012. Dunford also appealed his conviction for dangerous driving.

Richards was killed when she was struck by Dunford’s vehicle while she was working as a flag person in the construction zone. The zone itself was heavily signed. Court heard Dunford passed two semis, and hit Richards after pulling back into his own lane. Dunford told the court he was distracted by paperwork that was blowing around in his vehicle, and was too late to avoid the collision when he saw her.

A collision analyst for the RCMP estimated the speed at the time of impact was between 82 and 99 kilometres an hour. The zone had a marked speed limit of 60 km/h. Dunford testified he had not seen any of the signs. Dunford was returning from North Portal to Regina at the time of the accident, and had driven through the construction zone earlier in the day.

Dunford appealed the sentence, saying his charter rights had been infringed upon, as he claimed to not have understood what his rights were in retaining counsel as he was distraught after the accident. The sentence was also appealed for being unfit based on the circumstances.

In the decision, written by Justice Ottenbreit, with concurring opinions from Chief Justice Richards and Justice Whitmore, it was determined Dunford understood he was entitled to a lawyer, but didn’t want one at the time, based on the exchange he had with the RCMP at the scene of the accident, as well as in a video-taped interview with the RCMP.

Ottenbreit also wrote the sentence would not be changed, noting “a suspended sentence in a situation where there has been a death and in circumstances of high moral culpability is inappropriate and unfit given the sentencing principles in play in those circumstances.”

After the death of Richards, who was working on her first day on the job as a flagperson, the province introduced new rules, and stiffer penalties, for driving in work zones. Those laws include fines tripling, the use of photo radar on construction zones, and signs displaying the speed limit now being black on white, as opposed to black on orange.