Car surfing accused to spend Xmas at home before sentencing

Tommy Palliser will spend Christmas with his family in Inukjuak before he faces sentencing Jan. 18 for his role in a Montreal car-surfing incident that left another man dead.

Palliser, 35, pleaded guilty last August to a charge of criminal negligence causing death, linked to a June 2009 accident in which his friend, Kevin Ducharme, fell from the top of an SUV that Palliser was driving in Montreal.

Ducharme, 38, died later in hospital.

Following Palliser’s guilty plea, Judge Claude Bigué of Nunavik’s traveling court asked for a pre-sentencing report before he giving a sentencing decision in Inukjuak on Jan. 18.

A pre-sentencing report is typically requested when a serious criminal offence in involved and often includes interviews with the accused person’s family and friends to better explain the circumstances around the crime.

At a Nov.16 hearing in Inukjuak, Bigué heard from defence and prosecution lawyers as well as from some witnesses.

Palliser’s lawyer, Gerald LaHaye, would not comment on the presentation he made to the judge last month, saying that now he “respects the judge’s right to make a decision considering everything we’ve said.”

Crown prosecutor Lyly-Anne Ratelle told Nunatsiaq News that she asked Bigué to give Palliser a three-year prison sentence.

Palliser, who has been out on bail in Inukjuak since his arrest, could face life imprisonment, according to the maximum penalty set out under section 220(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada.

His guilty plea came as a surprise to many, especially because Palliser had said he was unaware that Ducharme has climbed on top of the vehicle he was driving.

But LaHaye said that is untrue.

“The facts were clear,” LaHaye said. “When they stopped at the light, [Palliser] took the decision to drive, knowing his friend was on the roof. That’s why he pleaded guilty.”

Palliser declined to be interviewed, saying the ordeal is “too difficult to talk about.”

“We have to take responsibility for our actions and move on with our lives,” he said, “hopefully to continue helping others.”

Palliser said he is distraught over the incident, but that he has the support of his family and that of Ducharme’s family in Winnipeg.

In addition to his job at the Kativik Regional Government, where he is a business advisor, Palliser serves as vice-president of the local landholding corporation and is involved the local Unaaq men’s group.

Palliser was driving a 2006 Jeep Commander through the Montreal suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux on June 29, 2009, when Ducharme, his common-law spouse’s cousin, climbed through a sunroof onto the top of the vehicle.

Montreal police said Ducharme was standing there at about 3:30 a.m. when the SUV stopped at a red light on the corner of St. Jean Blvd. and Ernest St..

When the traffic light turned green, Palliser drove forward and the movement knocked Ducharme off the vehicle and caused him to fall on his head.

The vehicle then left the scene. Witnesses in another car called 911.

Police identified Ducharme later that day only after his family called police to report that he never came home.

Ducharme died a few days later in hospital.

This case is the first in a string of recorded cases of car surfing in Quebec that have gone to court and was the first recorded instance of car surfing in Montreal.