Closing arguments presented in deadly hit-and-run trial

Family of fatal hit-and-run victim speak in court The family of a man killed in a hit-and-run in Springwater in 2018 gave their emotional victim impact statements in court on Thursday.

Closing arguments were presented Wednesday at the trial of a Newmarket woman accused in a hit-and-run in Springwater Township in 2018 that claimed the life of 27-year-old Dominik Adamek.

Maimuna Baldeh's defence lawyer said that while Adamek tragically lost his life, "That does not mean Ms. Baldeh is guilty of a criminal offence."

Baldeh is charged with failing to stop at an accident causing death.

The defence told the court there was no dispute she was driving the car that struck and killed the Springwater man five years ago on the morning of May 5, but added the evidence pointed to her not knowing what she had hit.

Her former boyfriend testified she never told him what she had hit, adding he suggested it may have been a deer based on the vehicle damage.

Baldeh took the stand on Tuesday, testifying she thought something may have fallen off the truck travelling ahead of her that morning and struck her windshield.

"She maintained on every suggestion and on every question she did not see what hit her vehicle," stated Defence Counsel Stephen Di Clemente.

"The main question that you will have to decide is whether Ms. Baldeh, subjectively, in her own mind, at the time of the incident, knew that she hit a person or was willfully blind to hitting a person," the defence added.

Di Clemente emphasized how Baldeh never attempted to conceal the collision, keeping repair shop invoices and telling the police her car was at the body shop.

"This is not an action of somebody who knew she hit someone or is trying to avoid detection," the defence said.

"Ms. Baldeh is not guilty," Di Clemente continued. "Everything she told you is the truth, and although she doesn't have to prove anything, the evidence proves it."

During its closing submissions, the Crown told the court Baldeh tried to veer around Adamek as he walked along Wilson Road.

"When Ms. Baldeh hit Mr. Adamek with her bumper, her headlights would've illuminated him at the front end of her hood," said Crown Attorney Susan Safar.

"Mr. Adamek struck the mirror and passenger side window and was ultimately thrown off the vehicle and skidded across the roadway to his final resting spot. All of this would have been visible to Ms. Baldeh," Safar added, requesting the court reject Baldeh's testimony, saying she was "argumentative, self-serving and selective with her evidence and often provided half-truths."

"We ask that you find that the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that either Ms. Baldeh knew at the time of the accident that she had hit a person with her vehicle or that she at least suspected that she might have hit a person and deliberately did not want to check because she did not want to know the truth," the Crown stated.

"She fled the scene to escape civil or criminal liability," Safar argued.

Justice Jonathan Dawe is scheduled to continue his instruction to the jury on Thursday before deliberations.