Closing address in crash trial
THE jury that will decide the fate of a woman charged over a double-fatal crash that killed two Ingham women will soon retire to consider its verdict.
On the fifth day of the trial of Kenisha Leighmay Illin, defence barrister Darin Honchin in his closing address branded the prosecution’s case as “circumstantial”.
Mr Honchin called into question the reliability of evidence given by multiple witnesses who had appeared in court during the first four days of the trial, and urged the jury to consider the impartiality of eyewitnesses, police and those first on the scene of the crash.
On September 24, 2019, on the Bruce Highway at Bambaroo, a white Ford Mondeo towing a large box trailer, allegedly driven by Illin, allegedly crossed the centre lane of the highway and collided with a car occupied by Ingham women Judy Reardon and Barbara Scott.
Ms Reardon’s car was pushed into an embankment off the highway, and the Mondeo was flipped on to its roof in the crash.
Illin’s father was also present in the Mondeo at the time of the incident.
Among Mr Honchin’s submissions were that there had been no direct eyewitness that saw Illin behind the wheel at the moment of impact, and that it could not be proven that blood splatter on the interior driver’s side window and airbag had been left after the crash as Illin crawled across the roof of the upturned car.
He further submitted it could not be proven the box trailer had been properly attached to the towbar before
the incident, an argument Crown prosecutor Monique Sheppard in her closing address labelled a “red herring”.
Ms Sheppard told the jury it should rely on the five wit
nesses who had either witnessed the collision, or had given evidence to the court stating they had seen Illin driving the Mondeo several kilometres from the crash site at Helens Hill.
Ms Sheppard added that Illin’s injuries, which were submitted as consistent with being on the driver’s side of the vehicle, DNA analysis of the blood that showed a 100 billion to one likelihood of belonging to Illin, and multiple alleged “lies” during an inter
view with an insurance investigator months after the crash were to be relied upon.
She said the most “egregious” of the alleged lies were Illin’s claims that she had seen both Ms Reardon and Ms Scott had called out after the crash, that a 4WD had hit the trailer, and that her father had lost control of the car when he reached for his mobile to answer a call.
The jury will retire on Wednesday morning to deliberate.