In what the judge called one of his toughest decisions of his career, the Shores of Erie International Wine Festival corporation was found guilty of two charges under the Liquor Licensing Act.
Justice Mike Hurst found the corporation guilty of not taking every reasonable step to prevent someone under the age of 19 from obtaining alcohol and failing to inspect identification.
The charges stem from a single-vehicle crash that killed 18-year-old Emily Bernaurer after the festival in September 2014.
In his ruling, Hurst said while the festival took may reasonable steps to prevents underage drinking, they failed to provide written rules about alcohol to food vendors at the festival.
Bernaurer was volunteering for the Sobey's food booth. Evidence submitted in court said that she obtained wine from a cooler at the booth in addition to being able to purchase alcohol tokens from the festival.
Defense lawyer Patrick Ducharme says he's not sure what kind of sentencing could come from the case.
"I'm not really sure whether the corporation still exists, I know it doesn't have any money because whatever money it raised it gave back to the community. So you essentially have a corporation that if it does exist, probably is bankrupt," says Ducharme.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled on September 25, 2017.
The family of Bernaurer did not want to comment after the proceedings.
