The MiWay driver charged in a crash that killed a woman waiting at a red light in Mississauga has been found not guilty, with the judge concluding that brake failure remained a possible explanation.
Global News reported that Justice David E. Harris delivered the verdict Friday morning in Baljeet Dhaliwal’s judge-alone trial on a charge of dangerous driving causing death. Dhaliwal had pleaded not guilty.
The collision occurred near Derry and Rexwood roads on June 8, 2023. Police were called at approximately 9:25 a.m. after a MiWay bus struck several stopped vehicles.
Sharron Williams, 50, was killed while sitting in the driver’s seat of a Nissan Rogue. Several other people were injured, according to police information cited by Global News.
In his judgment, Harris described Williams as waiting in closely packed traffic for the light to change. He said she had no warning of the approaching collision and no opportunity to avoid it.
Dashcam footage shown at trial captured the bus striking two rows of vehicles stopped at the red light. Harris described the bus as travelling at significant speed, without apparent slowing, and causing a chain reaction that crushed multiple cars.
Brake failure remained a possibility
The case centred on competing explanations for why the bus did not stop. Harris identified distraction by the driver and a fault with the bus’s brakes as the two possible causes.
Dhaliwal did not testify. Her defence lawyers argued that the brakes had failed and that she eventually brought the bus to a stop using a hand brake.
A mechanic called by the Crown testified that the brakes were functioning at the time of the collision. The defence challenged the reliability of that witness.
The Crown argued that Dhaliwal had failed to apply working brakes because of repeated inattention that day. Harris ultimately found that the evidence did not resolve what caused the crash.
In the judgment reported by Global News, Harris said the Crown had not convincingly excluded a brake malfunction. Because that explanation remained viable, he found the prosecution had not met the criminal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Williams’ son, Danny, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse after the decision. He expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome, saying he did not believe justice had been served and that things could have been handled differently.
