Driver: victims struck me
Two Japanese tourists injured after they were hit by car last summer
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Telling the court "there is no speed limit for pedestrians," a government prosecutor has asked a judge to convict a man of failing to yield to pedestrians and careless driving following a car crash last summer that sent two Japanese tourists to hospital with serious injuries.
Yellowknife resident Genanaw Tamene, centre in shorts, talks to an RCMP officer following a crash last August that injured two Japanese tourists. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
GNWT prosecutor Roger Shepard told territorial court judge Garth Malakoe Thursday that Genanaw Tamene, 44, is guilty of striking the tourists with his car Aug. 14 as they crossed Franklin Avenue at 49 Street while they were in the crosswalk and had the walk signal.
Tamene has pleaded not guilty to the charges under the NWT Motor Vehicle Act.
Shepard said it does not matter if one of the victims, Atsumi Matsuura, 57, was walking quickly across the street ahead of her husband Tatsuya Matsuura when she was struck.
The judge should also reject Tamene's claim that the woman came into contact with the passenger side door of his car and that her husband was hurt after he banged on the hood of the car and then climbed onto it before somehow ending up injured in the road, said Shepard.
The prosecutor said the couple could not have suffered the injuries they did if that was the way the accident actually happened.
Tamene, who testified through an Ethiopian interpreter, said he tried to avoid the pedestrians and in his effort to do that, crossed two oncoming lanes of traffic and ended up knocking over a parking meter in front of Centre Square Mall.
Tamene had been making a left turn onto Franklin in front of the post office when the collision occurred. He said he went through the intersection at about 10 to 15 kilometres an hour and that the woman was moving too quickly for him to avoid her.
Shepard said Tamene's testimony was not believable.
"An ordinary person would've slowed and scanned the sidewalk and the crosswalk before proceeding," Shepard said during his final submission.
"That simply was not done. She may have been walking a little fast but that doesn't change anything."
Shepard pointed out that RCMP confirmed both the traffic lights and the cross walk signal were working properly at the time of the crash.
He added the evidence shows the victims were struck by the front of Tamene's vehicle, the woman first and then the man after he slammed his fist on Tamene's car hood to alert him that he had just struck his wife.
Tamene, who appeared in court in a black suit with a buttoned-down white dress shirt, was at times stubborn on the witness stand as he was cross-examined by Shepard.
Tamene told him, through the interpreter, that he had already answered his questions or did not understand them.
Shepard struggled to get answers to basic questions about whether Tamene saw the woman in the crosswalk before she was struck and why he did not stop his vehicle after the two pedestrians were hit.
The two victims returned to Yellowknife from Japan in April to testify, also with the help of an interpreter. The territorial government picked up their airfare and accommodation tab to have them testify.
In his closing submission, Tamene's defence lawyer Paul Falvo said the judge should be wary of the testimony from three people who saw the crash, or at least its aftermath - two bystanders and a man driving a cab through the area at the time.
"None of them had reason to pay attention to Mr. Tamene's vehicle until after the crash," Falvo said, suggesting they could not accurately testify to what happened immediately before the crash.
It was not clear at trial whether the couple had to pay out of pocket for their medical treatment in Yellowknife.
Both sides will now make submissions to the judge stating why or why not Tamene should be convicted of both offences.
The two sides will be back in court June 27 at which time Malakoe is to set a date for his decision on guilt or innocence.
It is not clear how long Tamene has had his Manitoba-issued driver's licence.
The maximum penalty for careless driving in the NWT is six months in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both.
