Justice Frances Knickle delivered her verdict in the trial of Joshua Steele-Young Friday by comparing his testimony with that of his ex-girlfriend Morgan Pardy.
Pardy, the judge said, had been a credible, thoughtful and forthright witness with excellent recall.
Testifying about the car crash that had left her paralyzed on March 20, 2017, Pardy had sometimes spoken in the present tense with lots of detail, as if she had been reliving the event in the courtroom, Knickle noted.
In contrast, Steele-Young was not as compelling, the judge said, explaining he had given one-word answers to questions, answered questions before lawyers were done asking them, and at times grew argumentative.
His evidence didn’t jive with the testimony of others who had witnessed his car speeding on Pitts Memorial Drive in snowy conditions before flipping and crashing, she said.
“I do not accept his evidence,” Knickle said. “He was not a reliable witness.”
Steele-Young, 23, sat in the dock and looked to the floor as the judge convicted him of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with the accident. Behind him, Pardy sat in her wheelchair, wiping tears from her eyes with one hand, and holding her boyfriend’s hand with the other.
Pardy, 23, had testified she had ended her five-month relationship with Steele-Young days before the crash, but had agreed to go for a drive with him that morning to talk. The pair began to argue, she said, and Steele-Young grew angry. Pardy said she undid her seatbelt and demanded he let her out of the car, but he didn’t let her.
It was snowing at the time of the crash and the roads were snow-covered, the court heard.
Pardy told the court she had yelled at Steele-Young to slow down and stop the car to let her out. He was angry and yelling, she testified.
“I was crying. I was screaming, ‘Let me out of the f---ing car!’” Pardy said during her time on the witness stand. “It felt like five seconds later I woke up in the ICU.”
Other drivers had told the court they had seen Steele-Young’s red Honda Civic spin off the highway before flipping a number of times, and Pardy had been thrown from the car high into the air before landing in the snow.
Steele-Young had testified the pair was arguing in the car as he drove — and acknowledged he had been travelling 130km/h in a 100 km/h zone with slippery conditions — but said Pardy had not asked to get out of the vehicle.
He said he hadn’t seen Pardy remove her seatbelt and hadn’t heard the warning beep over the car’s loud music.
Steele-Young said he had lost control of the car when Pardy pushed his right elbow. His defence lawyer, Randy Piercey, argued it was Pardy’s actions that caused the crash and her injuries, saying she would not have been thrown from the car if she had been wearing her seatbelt.
Knickle said Friday she didn’t believe Steele-Young’s version of events.
“The accident was not caused by Morgan Pardy taking off her seatbelt,” she said. “Joshua Steele-Young’s dangerous driving was the cause. If he had not been driving dangerously, he may never have had an accident.”
When it came to a charge of forcible confinement, Knickle found Steele-Young not guilty, saying while she believed he had known Pardy wanted to get out of the vehicle, she wasn’t convinced he had intended to keep her there.
“It’s not clear it was reasonable for him to stop,” Knickle said, given the location and the weather conditions. “I accept there was insufficient time for Joshua Steele-Young to judge. The confinement was too brief for me to conclude he intended to confine her.”
Steele-Young will return to Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Sept. 16 for a sentencing hearing.
Prosecutor Jennifer Lundrigan requested Knickle remand him into custody to await the hearing, pointing out he has been charged with multiple counts of breaching orders given to him by the court since he was released after the accident.
Knickle declined, saying she didn’t believe Steele-Young was a risk to the public.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
RELATED:
