Man lied to help former best friend
Douro man who had just bought pickup truck involved in 2012 fatality testifies at mechanic’s trial
The lies a Douro man who had just bought the Dodge pickup truck that killed Abigail MacNaughton told police early in the investigation were highlighted as cross-examination of the apprentice mechanic continued for much of Thursday.
CrownwitnessJordanSchiemann, 25, who first took the stand Wednesday afternoon in the trial of Joseph Ramono, 52, in Superior Court of Justice, spent more than 2 1/2 hours answering questions from defence lawyer Glenn Orr.
The Stouffville auto mechanic has pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death and uttering a forged document. Prosecutors allege he sold the safety certificate for the 1995 Ram 2500 without ever seeing or inspecting the defective vehicle.
Schiemann was a passenger in one of three vehicles driving in a caravan to his home on the Third Line of Douro when his eastbound truck, driven by William “Billy” Towns, collided with MacNaughton’s westbound car on County Rd. 4 at about 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 3, 2012.
Towns was scheduled to stand trial along with Ramono, but pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and uttering a forged document shortly after proceedings got underway with jury selection on Monday.
He will be sentenced June 30 and is expected to testify in the trial.
Schiemann testified Wednesday that he put ownership of the Dodge, which has oversized tires and a lift kit, in Towns’ name because he couldn’t afford insurance. His driver’s licence was also suspended following an impaired driving conviction the year before.
Orr focused much of his crossexamination on the false information Schiemann provided investigators during an April 5, 2012 statement.
Early in his testimony Wednesday, he admitted he lied to police at first, but told assistant Crown attorney Lisa Wannamaker he was now telling nothing but the truth.
Schiemann,whowaswarnedabout the possible legal consequences at the outset of the statement, first said he lied to police about “the insurance part of it,” but couldn’t recall other untruths. He led a police officer to believe there was insurance on it, when he knew their wasn’t. “I was playing stupid,” he said. Asked if the “jeopardy” he exposed the public to by not insuring the modified, three-plus tonne vehicle bothered his conscience, Schiemann said “it would have a little, yes ... I was more or less covering for Bill (Towns).”
In the same statement to police, the Douro man also led the officer to believe that Towns was actually driving ahead of Schiemann, a passenger in a Saturn he had just bought driven by acquaintance Marty Dasilva, Orr pointed out.
Court has heard Towns was actually tailing the group before passing Dasilva and trying to pass another vehicle just before the crash.
Schiemann agreed he lied so that he wouldn’t have to explain anything about Towns’ driving. “I tried to take the heat off him.”
The witness agreed with Orr’s repeated assertions that he was willing to lie for his former friend. “It was stupid, but yes.”
He agreed he did not tell police that Towns’ said he was going to blame the steering, because he didn’t agree with him.
Another lie, Schiemann agreed, was telling police he sold the truck for $500, not the $7,000 he actually paid a coworker for it. The July 12, 2012 bill of sale was forged so he would pay less tax. “I didn’t want (seller Richard Spence) to be involved in any of this.”
During the cross-examination, Schiemann also testified that he cannot remember how he got the phoney insurance number he provided the MTO office in Lakefield, or what insurance company he would have told them it was with.
Asked again the same question after the lunch break, he said he could still not remember, but agreed that the number would have been made up or taken from somewhere
Schiemann then responded to Orr’s suggestion that providing where he got the number could get someone in trouble. “Would that not be our problem and not their problem?”
Court heard the men had a fight about five months over the crash, because Towns indicated he was going to blame the crash on the truck’s steering, but Schiemann, who drove the truck himself hours before the crash, believed it was OK.
Prosecutors have alleged that preexisting excessive play in the truck’s steering was a significant contributing factor in the crash. The defence has not yet had an opportunity to make an opening statement or call witnesses.
From the transcript of the December 2013 preliminary hearing held in the case, Orr pointed out that Schiemann said then that Towns told him the truck drove fine.
“He never admitted that to me, no ... I misunderstood the question at the time,” he said.
The men got into a shoving match over the disagreement. “We just started to get into it a bit. People came outside and broke us up.”
Schiemann, Towns’ best friend since Grade 7, did not see him again until he came by his house on an offroad vehicle a few months later as he worked outside his home. They didn’t address the issue, although he said his view hadn’t changed.
“We just left it alone ... I just didn’t feel any need to get back into it,” he said.
Schiemann also assured Orr he did not go to Stouffville to purchase the safety from Ramono. The lawyer suggested that Towns told police in late 2012 that the Ram did go there. “I did not know that,” he said. Schiemann testified that the Dodge had about 400,000 kilometres on it when he bought it, but he didn’t know how much Towns drove it before the fatal crash. The men didn’t discuss how Towns should be more careful, he said, because the truck was not insured.
“I figured it would be common sense,” he said.
The trial, which is scheduled for four weeks, continues at 9:30 a.m. Friday.