The man accused in the June 2022 Vancouver driving death of an Irish tech worker has elected for a judge and jury trial on sexual assault charges.
Alexandre Romero-Arata also faces driving-while-prohibited charges.
He appeared before Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Laura Bakan July 12 to change his trial type from a provincial court judge sitting alone to the other option, which moves the case to B.C. Supreme Court.
According to a court information sworn July 2, 2022, Romero-Arata is alleged to have sexually assaulted a person on Nov. 26, 2021.
The Irish worker’s death occurred after that date.
Eoghan Byrne and a friend were crossing West 4th Avenue at Arbutus Street around 11:30 p.m. on June 19, 2022, when he was struck and killed.
The driver failed to stop or offer assistance, police alleged.
Romero-Arata was charged with criminal negligence causing death, failure to stop at the scene of an accident and public mischief.
Further, Romero-Arata also faces a charge of driving while prohibited stemming from an Aug. 29, 2022 Vancouver incident. He faces the same charge in connection with a Dec. 31, 2022 incident.
Const. Tania Visintin said at the time that the Vancouver Police Department spent months gathering evidence in Byrne’s death.
Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Harbans Dhillon heard May 29 that Romero-Arata is due to go to trial soon on charges of assault causing bodily harm and assault against a woman March 5, 2022. He was granted bail on those charges July 6, 2022.
He had been granted bail March 23 but is now in custody and appeared before Bakan via video.
