Carol Berner's appeal of her sentence was dismissed in the B.C. Court of Appeal Thursday.
The three-panel judge took just a few minutes to make the decision. No reasons were given at the time but are expected.
Berner is the woman who was convicted in the 2008 crash that killed four-year-old Alexa Middelaer and seriously injured her aunt Daphne Johanson. The pair were feeding a horse in the 4300-block of 64th Street in Ladner when a car, driven by Berner, plowed into them.
Berner was convicted in July 2010 of impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
In court Thursday morning, Berner's lawyer, David Tarnow, argued that the 30-month sentence is "excessive."
"The sentence imposed was outside the range," he said.
He also argued that the content of some of the victim impact statements, including a video played by Michael Middelaer, Alexa's father, of the little girl at a Christmas concert, should not have been played in court during the sentencing hearing.
"I felt that this was inappropriate for the setting," Tarnow told the court.
He said an already highly emotional situation was escalated by the playing of the video and potentially influenced the judge's decision.
Outside the courthouse, Michael Middelaer called the argument against the playing of the video "repugnant."
He said it feels surreal to be sitting through another appeal in the case and that the family is looking at how the case might influence change in the system.
"Our goal is change," he said. "It should never take this long.
"This journey has been five years, which is longer than my daughter was alive."
The latest appeal is Berner's third attempt at overturning her conviction or getting a reduced sentence.
Following her sentencing, Berner appealed her conviction in B.C. Court of Appeal. That appeal was dismissed last year.
In February, Berner filed for leave to appeal her conviction in the Supreme Court of Canada.
The court, however, dismissed her application on Wednesday morning.
