Court - Family wants driver to answer for fatality

SABy Darlene Casten
staff reporter

Six years after a drunk driver claimed the life of Turner Valley resident Rita Theresa Coats, the man responsible for the collision will be sentenced.
Robert Charles Nelson was on the lam for three years after he failed to appear for his 2001 trial.
Rita Coats, her husband Al and their son Shawn were on their way to a library when Nelson’s vehicle hit a curb, veered into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on with the family’s vehicle.
Nelson attempted to run from RCMP, but was arrested soon after. He had a blood alcohol level of .18 — more than twice the legal limit.
Rita Coats died as a result of the accident and her husband and then 14-year-old son were seriously injured.
Defence lawyer Andre Ouellette said his client was only blocks away from the courthouse Feb. 5, 2001, but could not bring himself to enter the building.
“The dramatic outcome of his actions were such that he couldn’t face them,” Ouellette said.
After three years in hiding Nelson was arrested by Nanton RCMP at an area ranch on April 21.
He pleaded guilty to charges of impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm last month.
He was to be sentenced on the charges by a Queens Bench judge Sept. 1. However, his sentencing was adjourned to Sept. 9, the anniversary of the fatal crash.
Nelson also has a 1992 conviction for drinking and driving.
Crown prosecutor Lloyd Robertson said Nelson should be sentenced to four years in prison and receive a 10-year driving prohibition following his release.
Ouellette asked that his client receive three years in a federal penitentiary, but asked that the driving prohibition begin while Nelson is in prison.
Coats’ daughter-in-law Ann-Marie Witney said she does not accept Nelson’s reasons for not appearing for his trial three years ago.
“He was so upset that he had to run away for three years and provide a false identity?” Witney questioned.
Nelson was sentenced to three months in prison for failing to appear in court in Okotoks Provincial Court.
The sentence provided little relief to the Coats family, who say they were denied closure while Nelson was missing.
“It seems a little crazy to me that a man who was on the lam for three years gets three months,” Witney said. “If you take the pain that everyone in this family has had for the past three years that (sentence) doesn’t even scratch the surface.”
Memories of Coats’ death have lingered with the family, some of whom remain in the area.
“We have been living in denial — it is simply too painful,” Witney said.
Witney and Coats’ son Bruno continue to live in Black Diamond, however, Al Coats and his son Shawn moved west of Calgary.
“(Turner Valley) is where Rita wanted to be,” said Al Coats, reading from a statement he wrote two months after the accident. “Now none of us want to be here.”
Shawn Coats, who was hospitalized for a month following the accident, said he will be relieved when Nelson is sentenced.
“You get over it and then you come here and it brings it all back,” Shawn said.