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Kelowna  

Was confession a lie?

Did Donald Brodie lie to police following a collision with a pedestrian? Or to police months later while in custody? To multiple local media outlets? Or on the stand while under oath in August?

Brodie is facing several charges after a car he was in ran a police check stop on Springfield Road in Kelowna in December 2013, eventually hitting and injuring a paper carrier.

While Nathan Fahl was originally charged, months later, Brodie confessed to being behind the wheel.

He now claims his multiple confessions to police and the media were lies, while the Crown claims those were the only times Brodie has been honest.

In early 2014, Brodie, who was in jail on other charges, began a letter-writing campaign to police and media outlets, confessing to being the driver.

After some effort from Brodie, he was eventually charged, and the charges against Fahl were dropped.

On the stand in August, Brodie explained he confessed to being behind the wheel to get his friend out of trouble.

In closing arguments Wednesday, defence lawyer John Gustafson said Brodie is extremely loyal. So much so that one of the robbery charges on his extensive criminal record stems from an attempted bank robbery to help pay a friend's rent.

Crown Prosecutor David Grabavac said Brodie wrote a letter in November 2014 to one of the officers who chased them.

“I had enough integrity to do the right thing and tell the truth and take responsibility for my actions,” the letter stated.

That was one of several admissions made after Brodie had been charged and Fahl's charges were dropped.

“Why write that? What purpose? How does that help Mr. Fahl? It doesn't,” Grabavac said.

Justice Martha Devlin is expected to deliver a decision Friday. 



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