A 911 call made by the girlfriend of a man accused in a fatal hit-and-run will be allowed into evidence, a judge ruled Friday.
Christian Hernandez was charged in December 2010 with impaired driving and failure to remain at the scene of a collision in an alleged hit-and-run that resulted in the death of 45-year-old Richard Carmichael.
In July, Hernandez's lawyer argued the call from the accused's girlfriend to 911 saying she believed Hernandez had struck a pedestrian on North High Street on Dec. 19 should not be used as evidence because the two are now married.
Justice Joyce Pelletier ruled Friday morning that the phone call is admissible because Hernandez and his now-wife were not married at the time and through Hernandez's own testimony it was revealed he directed her to make the phone call and report the collision.
Hernandez testified earlier this year he thought he had hit a deer.
The court heard Friday that the Agreed Statement of Facts states a witness called police around 3:10 a.m. Dec. 19, 2010 and said there was a body laying in the road on High Street near the Van Norman Street intersection.
Emergency crews found a man laying on his stomach and a pool of blood underneath him. Paramedics took him to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and arrived at 3:55 a.m. Carmichael was pronounced dead at 3:58 a.m.
According to the autopsy report, Carmichael died of bilateral pneumothorax from multiple injuries caused by blunt force trauma.
Carmichael had been wearing all dark clothing and a friend testified they too had drinks at the Shoreline Hotel that evening.
The judge also ruled that breath samples Hernandez gave at the Thunder Bay Police Station on Dec. 19 to be admissible.
At 4:58 a.m., Hernandez had 140 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milligrams of blood in his system; at 5:19 a.m., he had 120 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milligrams of blood.
Justice Pelletier said the police had reasonable probable cause to take the breath samples.
The case will be back before the courts on Dec. 10 to set a date for the rest of the trial.
