The Crown and defence are scheduled to make final arguments today (Tuesday) in the Court of Queen's Bench jury trial of a 26-year-old man charged after 18-year-old Olds College student Nicholas Baier was run down and killed in October 2010.
Jeffrey Leinen faces charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and criminal negligence causing bodily harm. He has pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
Leinen's five-woman, seven-man jury trial before Justice Marsha Erb started on Nov. 28. Once defence lawyer Andre Ouelette and Crown prosecutor Roy Smith make their final arguments, the matter will go to the jury.
Baier was killed outside the Texas Mickey bar on Oct. 29, 2010. Nineteen-year-old student Dan Skocdopole was injured in the same incident.
Leinen has already admitted that he was the driver of the vehicle that struck Baier and Skocdopole. Prosecutor Smith has told the jury the Crown intends to prove Leinen did it intentionally and deliberately.
Last week RCMP Const. Donovan Gulak, an accident reconstruction specialist, testified about being called to the Texas Mickey scene shortly after Baier and Skocdopole were hit.
Gulak reportedly said he analyzed the scene using various measurements and determined that the vehicle that struck Baier and Skocdopole accelerated about 19 metres when it struck the men.
He also showed the jury photographs taken outside the Texas Mickey shortly after ambulances left the scene. One of the photos shows a large pool of blood across the southbound lane of 50 Avenue.
“Tire marks straddle each side of (the blood pool), travelled over the blood and away from the scene,” said Gulak. “The blood was directly behind a crumpled blanket on the road.”
Gulak also showed the court photos from a second scene in south Olds where Leinen's truck rolled onto its side and where the accused was arrested.
Gulak said he made an analysis of that scene, including the measurement of skid marks. He said his calculations indicate the truck was travelling 150 kilometres per hour when the driver first lost control.
Earlier in the week, the jury was shown a videotape made at the Olds RCMP station several hours after Leinen's arrest.
On the tape Leinen reportedly tells Const. Kevin Jordan said he did not intend to hit Baier or Skocdopole.
“I don't know what happened, like I never honestly, never did this on purpose for, to hurt anybody or anything,” Leinen said on the tape. “We've been out there for a few days doing some roofs out here and Sundre. There's no way, no way in hell, that I would get in my truck and run somebody over on purpose. There's no way in hell, no way. I don't even know the person, first of all, so why would I just go after some odd guy?
“Why would I take someone's life? How would I feel if my brother was gone? I didn't intend on doing this. I didn't intend on any of this happening.”
On Friday, Thomas Dalby, a forensic psychologist, testified for the defence, reportedly saying Leinen may have had what Dalby called a “panic response” just prior to driving into the crowd, reducing his inhibitions and making his actions involuntary.
The Crown countered with testimony from Dr. Kenneth Hashman, a forensic psychiatrist, who reportedly said that earlier testimony from Sundre woman Autumn Campkin that Leinen was “scanning the crowd” moments before driving into crowd meant he was deliberate in his actions.
During the first week of the trial, the jury saw video surveillance footage taken outside the Texas Mickey that shows a pickup truck drive into a crowd of people standing outside the bar before driving off southbound on 50 Avenue.
