A 20-year-old Winnipeg man responsible for a drunk driving crash that killed a woman waiting at a bus stop is urging Manitoba’s highest court to find that his 6 1/2 year prison sentence is “harsh and excessive.”

Dakota Smoke appeared Tuesday before the Manitoba Court of Appeal. Smoke also argued the sentencing judge did not properly consider his aboriginal upbringing in arriving at an appropriate sentence.

The court will deliver its decision at a later date.

Smoke pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death, two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, and fleeing the scene of an accident for a Feb. 15, 2013, crash that killed 53-year-old Kim Delaurier.

Last October, provincial court Judge Rocky Pollack sentenced Smoke to 5 1/2 years in prison for the driving offences and another year for fleeing the scene. Prosecutors had recommended Pollack sentence Smoke to seven years in prison — five years for the driving offences and another two years for fleeing the scene.

Smoke was a novice driver and not allowed to consume any alcohol at all before driving.

“Mr. Smoke broke the law as soon as he set the car in motion with as little as a milligram of alcohol in his system,” Pollack said.

Court heard Smoke had been drinking for several hours when, shortly before 6 a.m., he and five passengers piled into his brother’s 2004 Chevy Impala.

Witnesses said Smoke drove at speeds in excess of 100 km/h, blew through four red lights, and ignored pleas to slow down before T-boning a 2011 Honda CR-V at the intersection of Balmoral Street and Notre Dame Avenue.

The force of the collision sent the Honda careening onto the sidewalk, where it struck Delaurier at a bus stop.

She was rushed to hospital in critical condition and died.

The driver of the Honda and one of Smoke’s passengers were also taken to hospital but recovered.

Smoke fled the scene and was arrested two days later at his brother’s home.

dean.pritchard@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @deanatwpgsun