Jurors hear audio recording of witness telling dispatch he hit someone days after hit-and-run

Tristan Roby and his mother Abby are seen at their home in London, Ont. on thursday, Jan. 16, 2020

On Monday, the trial moved into its fourth week as jurors heard from Ahmad (Ak) Jamal, a former acquaintance of Jesse Bleck, who testified in court, despite having a foggy memory.

Bleck, 29, is the accused of the ongoing hit-and-run trial of at the time 17-year-old Tristan Roby that left him with life-altering brain injuries, confining him to a wheelchair.

Six months after the crash, investigators arrested and charged 29-year-old Bleck.

Jamal was repeatedly questioned about the night of the accident on July 21, 2019, and the months that followed. In several of his responses, he could not give a proper answer claiming a poor memory due to changes in his health.

Due to memory loss, crown attorney Artem Orlov replayed video and audio recordings following the accident, including a call Jamal made to police three days after the crash, saying he wanted to report a bike accident.

“I guess I was the person who hit the person,” he said to a female dispatcher. “I thought it was a deer. I’ll be turning myself in tomorrow,” he said near the end of the call.

Orlov asked Jamal whether he remembered going to Port Stanley in July and if he was “clean” at the time, referring to the witness’ previous drug use with fentanyl and opioids.

Jamal vaguely remembered going to the beach but couldn’t remember what the location was, adding that he had a driver’s license at the time, but was not the owner of the vehicle.

“I would suggest to you that Jesse Bleck was driving that car,” the crown said.

“I can’t recall,” said Jamal.

The crown also played a portion of the video statement between Jamal and Const. Bernard Martin months after the accident, where he said it was only him and his friend Trevor in the car at least twice.

But on Monday, Jamal testified that the two picked up Jesse that day.

He later told police that he ran through a field after the accident and fled to a lady’s house that he said Trevor knew.

The witness is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.