Accused in fatal Calgary hit-and-run found not guilty

Aloka Akot was killed in an Oct. 27, 2022, hit-and-run on 17th Avenue S.E. (supplied: family of Aloka Akot)

Crown prosecutors couldn't prove a Calgary man was the driver of a vehicle involved in the hit-and-run death of 27-year-old Alek Athiebiok (Aloka) Akot in 2022.

On Oct. 21, Justice J.D. Sawa of the Alberta Court of Justice acquitted Hani Salama, the registered owner of the black Mercedes Benz that the court heard was the vehicle that ran down the mother while she was in a marked crosswalk in Forest Lawn.

In his reasons, released on Nov. 25, Sawa said prosecutors did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Salama was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

At about 7:55 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2022, Akot was struck by a vehicle while crossing at the intersection of 17 Avenue and 44 Street S.E.

The driver of the vehicle did not remain at the scene.

In the ruling, the court said the Crown based its case on several pieces of evidence, including video footage of the hit-and-run, cellphone records and an examination of the vehicle itself, which was seized by police four days later.

Footage of the hit-and-run was captured by two cameras: one positioned at a bus rapid transit lane and the other at a nearby dental office. The Crown said each camera gave a clear view of the hit-and-run and the black Mercedes driving away from the scene.

Prosecutors also submitted cellphone evidence from a device registered to a person with a similar name as the accused, which a Crown witness said linked Salama to the crime.

"Her analysis showed that the last communication associated to the cellphone on Oct. 27, 2022, prior to the accident was at approximately 6:55 p.m., about an hour before," Sawa said.

"The next communication following the accident on that date was at 8:09 p.m. approximately 14 minutes after. The communication at 6:55 p.m. was in the vicinity of the accident but it was one hour before the accident with no activity on the cellphone again until 8:09 p.m."

The address on the cellphone was linked to an apartment in northwest Calgary, which was where the Mercedes was recovered from.

Salama did not testify in court and his defence counsel provided no evidence.

Circumstantial evidence, judge says

In his reasons, Sawa said while the evidence presented by the Crown proved Salama was the registered owner of the Mercedes and the vehicle was involved in the hit-and-run, it did not prove that Salama was the driver.

"His DNA was obtained from the steering wheel of the Mercedes after it was seized by police. There is no doubt that the Mercedes was in the accident which caused the death of Ms. Akot.

"There is no direct evidence of identity and no eyewitnesses who could identify the driver."

Sawa said while the video clips submitted by the Crown were of "good quality" and gave clear views of the incident, neither one accurately identified the driver of the Mercedes.

While the phone records did lead police to locate the vehicle that was positively identified as the one involved in the hit-and-run, Sawa said there was no evidence Salama was residing at the apartment.

The Crown also failed to prove that the iPhone 6, analyzed by police, belonged to the accused, Sawa said.

"This was an obvious gap in the evidence in terms of linking Hani Salama to the records," he wrote.

In the analysis of the Mercedes, police found DNA of the accused on the steering wheel.

Sawa said this fact doesn't necessarily mean he was the driver, only "that he was in contact with the steering wheel sometime prior to the date of the seizure."

"It must be noted there is a four-day gap between the date of the accident and the date of the seizure and the DNA evidence must be evaluated with reference to the totality of the evidence," Sawa wrote.

There was also some doubt about the ownership of the Mercedes at the time it was seized, Sawa said.

On Oct. 31, 2022, the day it was located by police, Salama transferred registration of the vehicle to his father.

While that action may be perceived to "evade detection for the accident," Sawa said more proof was needed.

"The relevance of any piece of after-the-fact conduct is a fact-driven exercise and depends on the particular facts of the case."