A doctor took to the stand in the case of a man accused of killing an Alliston road worker to answer some key questions about his sleeping defence.
Dr. Colin Shapiro was called to testify by Marcello Fracassi’s defence team on Thursday, as an expert in sleep disorders. He's performed numerous tests on Fracassi.
He testified Fracassi has "parasomnia", which he says is abnormal or unusual behavior during sleep. The defence zeroed in on the night in June of 2014 when Fracassi claims to have been "sleep driving" while driving a truck that hit and killed Geoff Gaston.
Shapiro said Fracassi showed symptoms of parasomnia or sleep walking. He says Fracassi was dealing with stress, as well as alcohol and a lack of sleep.
"The more alcohol, the more the possibility of a parasomnia event," the doctor testified.
The Crown challenged the doctor's findings, suggesting this wasn't a sleep walking incident, but rather Fracassi being too drunk to drive.
The Crown said Fracassi blew over the legal limit of alcohol hours after the crash. They also noted that after the crash, Fracassi swerved to avoid a truck that tried to cut him off.
Dr. Shapiro said there are episodes of people who sleep drive, where they can recognize some features in front of them, which is why Fracassi avoided the truck.
Under more questioning by the Crown though, Shapiro couldn't say why Fracassi didn't notice Gaston on the road.
Shapiro pointed out that Fracassi didn't try to hide the truck, which would've shown signs of the collision, saying "I think the fact that he didn't hide it means he wasn't cognizant of the events."
The Crown challenged the value of Shapiro's opinions and raised the possibility that Fracassi himself hadn't always been truthful with the doctor about how much he drank.
The defence will call another doctor to the stand to testify more about Fracassi's health.
