The 60-year-old man who was allegedly hit by a car driven by his girlfriend’s one time suitor was told “Jennifer was his and always would be” before he was run down on the road in March 2012.

Testifying Thursday in the trial of retired school teacher Bernie Bulat, 74, who faces several charges in connection with the incident – including attempted murder, Brian Meloche told Superior Court Justice Christopher Bondy the comment was made to him during a confrontation with the accused weeks before he was run over.

“I mentioned that he was not allowed to be around her,” Meloche replied, referring to previous court orders for Bulat to stay away from Liu,  when asked by Crown Prosecutor Kim Bertholet what prompted the exchange. “He didn’t agree with me.”

It was March 19, at about 7 p.m., just after Meloche left the Legion hall on Howard Avenue with Wen Fen (Jennifer) Liu, the object of Bulat’s frustrated attentions, that Meloche noticed his romantic rival’s car through the rear view mirror while he waited for the traffic light where Howard intersects with Highway 3.

“I was making a left-hand turn when I felt a little bump,” he testified. “I looked up and saw Bernie in the mirror.  Then he backed up again and gave us quite a little nudge … I exited the car and called out that the police were called … He sped forward … veered left, then right, and I was sent airborne.”

Meloche said he was standing beside the vehicle he had been driving when he was struck, resulting in several injuries, including a cracked hip and tail bone, several bruises and abrasions on his legs, buttocks and arms.

Bulat, a widower, is also charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, leaving the scene of a collision knowing bodily harm had been caused, criminal harassment and breach of recognizance. On the day of the mishap he was free on bail awaiting sentencing for such a breach.

But, in cross examination Bulat’s defence lawyer, Brian Dube, suggested  the two men had been in confrontations before and that Meloche had demonstrated aggressive behaviour toward his client. He said Meloche blamed Bulat for a prior incident when a harmful substance was put into his gas tank resulting in about $700 in repairs to the vehicle’s gas line.

He said Meloche accused his client of stalking him, even following him to his daughter’s home on Lincoln Avenue. He suggested Meloche confronted Bulat at that time.

“You said ‘why the f— are you at my daughter’s house? I’ll break your neck if you come here again. I’ll kick your ass.’ That’s what you said.”

“I never, never threatened him, no,” Meloche replied.

But Dube suggested it was just coincidence the two men were in the same neighborhood. He said his client was picking up a friend who lived across the street.

Dube then replayed a video taken from a surveillance camera at the legion which showed the two men involved with each other in the parking lot, near Meloche’s car. Dube noted the meeting was around the time of the gas tank incident. Dube pointed out that, in the video, Meloche is standing with his arms spread out, suggesting a “let’s fight” stance.

“You’re calling him out to fight,” suggested Dube.

“No I didn’t,” Meloche replied.

Court was adjourned early, just after the afternoon break, when Meloche told the Crown that he felt shaken and unsteady. Bulat, meanwhile, was taken from the courtroom in a wheelchair. The trial resumes today.

A justice of the peace handed Clarke Chevrolet Buick GMC a $12,500 fine Friday, but it pales compared to how consumers have punished the Amherstburg dealership over the last year, says the company’s lawyer.

Greg Goulin said “business just dropped off,” a year ago when the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) went public about charges against the dealership.

Earlier this month, the dealership’s assets were sold to Rafih Auto Group.

Goulin, speaking on behalf of the company Friday outside provincial offences court, said he couldn’t say the business was sold because of its financial straits.

But, he called the fact the company beat the two more serious charges it faced in court “a pyrrhic victory.”

The dealership and two senior managers – Jim Clarke and Jesse Howell – had been charged under the Consumer Protection Act with making an unconscionable representation to a customer in 2011 and engaging in an unfair business practice.

Justice of the peace Sonia Alongi found them not guilty of those charges but convicted the dealership of using an unregistered salesman – Josh Beneteau – contrary to the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act.

She fined the company $10,000, plus $2,500 in a surcharge that goes into a provincial fund to compensate victims of crime.

An OMVIC spokesman who attended court Friday said the regulatory body was “really disappointed” in the judgment.

“We believed the charges and allegations were proven,” said Terry O’Keefe. “We will discuss the possibility of an appeal.”

O’Keefe bristled at Goulin’s suggestion that Clarke Chevrolet was “tried and convicted in the press” by OMVIC.

“OMVIC is a regulatory body. We are tasked with protecting the consumer.”

In separate proceedings, OMVIC is seeking to revoke the dealership’s licence and the licences of its principals, including Howell and members of the Clarke family.

Even though the dealership’s assets have been sold, the licences would allow it to reopen at a new location, and Howell and the Clarkes to continue to sell cars elsewhere.

The complaint that led to the Clarke dealership’s demise was from a bank employee who called OMVIC on behalf of a customer. The customer was seeking to withdraw his retirement savings for a car he could not afford.

The dealership had twice been disciplined in relation to consumer complaints unrelated to this case. Last year, it was named small business of the year by the chamber of commerce.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com  Follow me on Twitter @winstarsacheli

A local car dealership was fined $12,500 for using an unlicensed salesperson in court Friday, May 10, 2013. Clarke Chevrolet Buick GMC and two senior managers × Jim Clarke and Jesse Howell had been charged under the Consumer Protection Act. Clarke is shown here after the court appearance. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

A local car dealership was fined $12,500 for using an unlicensed salesperson, but dodged more serious charges in court Friday, May 10, 2013. Clarke Chevrolet Buick GMC and two senior managers × Jim Clarke and Jesse Howell had been charged under the Consumer Protection Act with making an unconscionable representation to a customer in 2011 and engaging in an unfair business practice. Clarke (R) is shown here after the court appearance with his lawyer Greg Goulin. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

Canada’s justice system must change to accommodate the increasing number of people forced to represent themselves in court because they do not have the money to pay for lawyers, a major study on the growing trend recommends.

The final report of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project, spearheaded by University of Windsor law professor Julie Macfarlane, found that up to 80 per cent of cases in many family and civil courts across Canada involve self litigation. Even more disturbing, said Macfarlane, the 18-month project found that in 50 per cent of cases involving self litigants, those involved had not initially chosen to fight their own court battles but had simply run out of money to pay their lawyers part way through proceedings.

“More than half these people had lawyers before the money ran out,” said Macfarlane. “It’s not that they didn’t want a lawyer. But after spending $10,000, $20,000, sometimes $70,000 they just couldn’t afford it anymore. That puts the whole issue into a different light. Their matters were not resolved and they were still bleeding money so they had to go forward on their own.”

The findings of  the report were to be discussed at a forum at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law, which started Thursday and continues through Saturday, bringing together 45 justice system representatives from three participating provinces, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The forum  includes lawyers and judges, justice ministry representatives,  Legal Aid boards, and members of the National Action Committee on Access to Justice.

In addition, several people who have represented themselves in court are participating to tell the legal experts about their experiences in the system.

One of those people is Derek Parry, from Wheatley, who was forced to take on his own, relatively simple, divorce case when his legal costs got to be too high.

“I went through an absolutely horrific resolution of a divorce and all I needed was a financial settlement, no (child) custody involved,” he said. “But it was terrible. You go to a lawyer first, probably wise advice. But then you start the process over which you have no control and there are demands you can’t meet and then you simply run out of money. You run out of money or out of patience.”

Macfarlane said there may be ways to make the fight more equal. She suggested that self litigants could be allowed to hire lawyers on a piecemeal basis, to help a client, for example, prepare for one legal task. Hiring on a task-by-task basis, which the legal profession refers to as “unbundling” would save costs by allowing the litigant to handled some parts of their case, by themselves, but with guidance.

Another way to address the issue, she suggested, might be to allow more paralegals to work in family law, a form of practice they are now barred from, to help litigants fill out paperwork and prepare.

However Macfarlane added lawyers may feel such a loose system leads to less accountability and could result in a rash of insurance liability problems and malpractice suits.

Windsor family lawyer Nadia Bhatti agreed.

Paralegals do not receive that same degree of training and that could mean the rights of  the litigant may not be fully protected in a complex case, she said. She tries to accommodate her clients by setting her rate, which varies from $106 to $225 per hour,  according to their income.

Unbundling services would necessitate more detailed retainers, specifying exactly which services, and only those services, are to be contracted for, Bhatti said. “If it’s all spelled out, that could avoid malpractice.”

The driver of the car that ran down Brian Meloche on Howard Avenue last year did it on purpose, three witnesses to the event testified Monday.

“Based on the path he took … it looked like he had intent to hit the driver of the car,” testified Tim Edwards, a university student headed to school the evening of March 19, 2012.

Retired elementary school teacher Brounislaw (Bernie) Bulat, 74, is on trial charged with attempted murder, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, leaving the scene of an accident knowing bodily harm was caused, criminal harassment and breach of recognizance.

Court has heard that Meloche, 60, was the new suitor of a woman with whom Bulat had once had a three-year relationship. Bulat was stalking the woman, repeatedly breaching court orders to stay away from her after being convicted of assaulting her.

Meloche and the woman were returning home after a dance at the legion hall on the day in question, court has heard. They were stopped at a light when they were rear-ended by a vehicle allegedly driven by Bulat.

Edwards was driving the third car in line on Howard Avenue at a red light at the intersection of Highway 3.

Edwards testified he saw a greyish-green Ford Taurus in front of him twice rear-end the sedan at the front of the line. The first time was a “slight bump” Edwards testified. Then the Taurus backed up and rammed the car, making it lurch forward almost into the intersection.

When the driver of the red sedan got out of the car, the Taurus backed up again then drove into the oncoming lane and directly at the man, Edwards testified.

Another driver, Paul Kennedy, testified he was on his way to drop his son off at soccer practice when he witnessed the incident. He was stopped at the light on Highway 3 facing west in the lane to turn south on Howard Avenue.

When Kennedy saw the sedan get rear-ended, he abandoned plans to make his left hand turn, ignoring the light and any cars behind him. “I kept watching what was going to happen.”

He watched the driver of the rear-ended car get out and stand outside the open driver’s side door. “As soon as the gentleman stepped out of the car… the car that hit him floored it.”

A third driver described the same scene. John Parr was stopped at the light in the lane next to the Taurus. He said it appeared the Taurus driver knew exactly what he was doing the entire time.

“It was the second time he hit the car that I thought it was intentional.”

But under cross-examination by defence lawyer Brian Dube, Parr said the Taurus driver may have hit the man in the course of “overcorrecting” for being in the oncoming lane.

The trial heard last week that Meloche suffered a cracked hip and tail bone and bruising and abrasions to his legs, buttocks and arms.

The trial continues before Superior Court Justice Christopher Bondy Tuesday.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com

An African refugee living in Windsor testified Tuesday she was sexually assaulted by an employee of an agency set up to help newcomers.

The Congo native said immigrant counselor Binaishea (Fred) Muvunga, who she knew from her homeland, was supposed to escort her to a medical appointment in November 2009, but instead drove her to his house after claiming that he forgot something.

Soon after the mother of five entered his home to get a drink of water, he emerged from his bedroom, grabbed her forcefully from behind and knocked her to the ground and assaulted her, she said.

He didn’t say anything during the attack, but afterward the victim — speaking in court through a French translator — testified that Muvunga said to her: “I did something which you didn’t like.

“I said it was true, I didn’t like it. Then he said if I told anyone he would hurt me, so I was afraid. I was new to Canada, didn’t know anything or anybody. I was believing this was someone who would help me integrate into Canada. But he said if I was to denounce him he would hurt me.”

She went to the medical appointment with him, yet was afraid to tell the physician of the attack that had just happened. She also didn’t tell her husband because she was afraid he would beat her. In her culture “you don’t talk about sex,” she said.

The victim, who had been living in Windsor for three months, said she was also afraid of the police because they are known to pose a threat to people in her homeland.

Muvunga, 53,  is also facing charges stemming from two alleged attacks on the woman.

A second incident occurred months later in May 2010, after another medical appointment set up by her husband, the woman testified. Muvunga escorted her on a bus, then later entered her home and demanded something to eat.

The woman hoped he would leave after feeding him, but was attacked again, she testified.

This time Muvunga forced intercourse on her, then quickly got up and left her house, the woman testified under questioning by assistant Crown attorney Elizabeth Brown.

The alleged victim told the court she never told anyone.

“I was always afraid,” she said. “I didn’t know where to go.”

The woman described a third incident in July 2010.

Her three youngest children were gone to a church program with her husband while her two oldest — teenagers — were thought to be in the house.

The woman testified she was in the basement doing laundry when Muvinga appeared.

“He told me it was time for me to get pregnant,” she said. “I was not wanting to have sex with him.”

The woman told the court she tried to call out to her children for help, but Muvunga told her he had sent them away.

“He said it was no use crying for help,” she testified.

She said Muvunga pushed her to the ground, removed her African frock, ripped off her underwear and forced intercourse on her again.

Soon after it was over, Muvunga offered her money “to not remember what he had done to me,” the woman testified.

“I told him I won’t accept your money,” she said. “My mother did not educate me this way — to be corrupt. I refused his money.”

She said Muvunga tried to convince her to leave her family to be with him, but she refused.

The trial continues on Wednesday morning.

Bernie Bulat says he panicked.

The retired elementary school teacher insists he ran over his ex-girlfriend’s new beau last year not with murderous intentions, but out of fear.

“I wanted to get away. I meant no harm at all.”

Bulat, 74, is on trial in Superior Court charged with attempted murder, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, leaving the scene of an accident knowing bodily harm was caused, criminal harassment and breach of recognizance for a March 19, 2012, hit and run on Howard Avenue.

Taking the witness stand in his own defence Tuesday, Bulat admitted following his former girlfriend, Fen Wen (Jennifer) Liu, for months before the incident despite repeated court orders prohibiting him from doing so.

Under questioning by assistant Crown attorney Kim Bertholet, Bulat admitted he had hoped to catch a glimpse of Liu at seniors dances or while playing pickleball and perhaps have a conversation about getting the no-contact conditions dropped.

It was by watching Liu that Bulat learned she was involved with a new man, Brian Meloche.

Bulat testified he felt a need to protect Liu from Meloche. “I was her King Kong. That’s what she called me…. I felt I was responsible for taking care of her.”

Bulat said he watched Liu leave the legion hall with Meloche’s arm around her on the day in question.

“I get a little upset. I don’t like what I’m seeing.”

Meloche followed the couple’s car to the light on Highway 3. That’s when Bulat rear-ended it twice on purpose.

“I want him to know I’m aware and I don’t like what’s going on. I want them to know I’m there.”

Bulat said he didn’t know what to do when Meloche stepped out of the driver’s door.

“He started coming towards me. I panicked.”

The incident was captured on video by a traffic camera at the intersection. What Bulat described happening next is at odds with what the video shows.

Bulat says he remembers driving at Meloche slowly. Meloche is “backpedalling” as the car “touches” him. Bulat said Meloche walked backward into the open driver door and fell to the ground, sitting upright.

“I’m saying to myself, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ He was looking around. He seemed OK – minimal damage.”

Bulat said he then drove away. He said he didn’t consider it a hit and run because he knew Liu and Meloche could identify him for police.

The traffic video shows Liu’s car pulling up to the intersection then lurching forward several feet after being struck from behind. Meloche exited, moving off camera momentarily, then was propelled back into view on the hood of Bulat’s car. Meloche was thrown more than four metres onto the pavement.

Bulat’s car sped away, nearly side-swiping another vehicle driving through the intersection.

Bulat’s own lawyer questioned the man’s memory of what occurred.

“You realize your version is absolutely inconsistent with what’s on that video,” said Brian Dube. Bulat conceded the point.

Dube then asked about Bulat’s frame of mind at the moment that he struck Meloche. “Did you intend to kill Brian Meloche?”

Bulat responded: “Come on, of course not.”

After the crash, Bulat went to his son’s house where he said nothing of what had just occurred. Bulat was arrested at his own home later in the evening.

Bulat testified he was an elementary school teacher for 35 years until his wife died in 1999. He said he had a nervous breakdown and never returned to work.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com

A Superior Court judge has criticized the City of Windsor for withholding payment to a subcontractor involved in construction of Huron Lodge and ordered it to pay more than $300,000.

The decision could prove even more costly for the city, which has withheld $4.67 million from London-based project contractor Southside Construction Ltd. after claims of faulty materials and workmanship.

The contractor in turn withheld payments to several subcontractors on the job and launched legal action against the city in 2007.

The complex legal fight has grown since then to involve more than a dozen lawyers representing the city, contractor, subcontractors and architects.

The parties agreed that a legal complaint by Artisan Masonry, a primary subcontractor on the project — which was owed $250,000 for its work on Huron Lodge — would proceed and could serve as a blueprint for the other disputes. The Artisan judgment includes the money owed plus court costs.

The city had maintained that brickwork was done improperly by Artisan, but a lawyer for the local company said the complaint was misguided and told the court during an eight-day trial earlier this year it was time for the city to pay its bills.

Justice Thomas Carey agreed, concluding in his ruling: “I cannot find any reason why Artisan would not have been paid some time ago. There has been (great reluctance) to pay demonstrated by The City here that is difficult to fathom.”

During construction of the $45 million nursing home, several city administrators and inspectors signed off on the project’s brickwork, Carey noted. It was not until a couple of years after the building opened that an expert retained by the city claimed there were deficiencies.

• Contractors continue fight against city to get payment for work on Huron Lodge

Carey called the expert “an advocate for the city’s position” and accused him of “scare-mongering” by maintaining that Huron Lodge’s walls could plunge to the sidewalk without warning.

“I agree with the counsel for Southside,” said Carey. “If this building’s walls were unsafe and in danger of imminent collapse … it is difficult to believe The City would allow it to continue to be used to house more than 200 vulnerable senior citizens.”

The city failed to demonstrate “good faith” in its dealings with Artisan, he concluded.

“They have gone looking for a problem to justify their non-payment,” Carey said.

The city has already filed notice of appeal, although council has not yet received a report on the ruling or discussed its options.

City solicitor George Wilkki said it will be discussed behind closed doors during the next council meeting Tuesday.

He doesn’t believe the decision would have an impact on the remaining monies owed to Southside and other subcontractors.

“It’s an isolated case, among many,” he said. “Each of these are very fact dependent and the facts are different.”

Some close to the case indicated the city has spent around $500,000 in legal fees to date related to Huron Lodge court fights. Wilkki did not know the number Wednesday, although he conceded it was high.

“Obviously, the cost situation keeps building the longer we have to deal with these matters,” he said. “It’s a concern, obviously.”

Council will determine the direction on the remaining matters connected with Huron Lodge, Wilkki said.

Mayor Eddie Francis said Wednesday the city will continue to fight.

“I know this decision focuses on a narrow aspect,” he said. “I’m not concerned about what this case means or the overall implications. I am concerned over the way Southside does business. They have not paid the subtrades.”

The lawyer for Artisan said he was disappointed the city has already appealed the ruling and continues to dig in its heels in paying money owed to companies which worked on Huron Lodge.

“The trades involved in construction on the project are disappointed on the approach the city has taken,” said  Myron Shulgan. “The city inspected all the completed work (during construction), found it acceptable and authorized the city to pay the trades the outstanding amounts. The city has ignored that advice and taken the position the trades are not entitled to payment.”

Evidence during the Artisan trial was set up to serve “as a mechanism to resolve the other claims,” but now “it doesn’t appear to be working out that way,” Shulgan said.

He guessed if the city follows through with an appeal of Carey’s ruling it may be another year before it enters a courtroom.

“Their conduct simply serves to exacerbate the hardship the trades have suffered on this until this matter is resolved,” Shulgan said. “It’s very disappointing. This matter has been outstanding since 2007.”

Carey’s ruling validates the legal stance held by the contractor (Southside) and subtrades involved regarding Huron Lodge, said Jim LeBer, the London-based lawyer who represents Southside.

“We are going to press on to get the monies owed to the contractor and the trades involved,” he said. “Southside is going to bat and will push forward and get payments for the people owed money. There were some (work quality) issues on the project, but nothing as significant as the issues the city is creating.

“We have an open door for the city if they want to come and talk.”

A refugee who says she was raped by a man who helped her family settle in Windsor was accused in court Wednesday of making up the story to cover up an extramarital affair.

The 36-year-old woman was grilled by defence lawyer Kirk Munroe, who suggested the woman concocted the rape story when she got pregnant by Binaishea (Fred) Muvunga.

“You had consensual sex with Fred because that’s what you wanted,” Munroe said.

The woman shot back: “It was not consensual. I did not want this.”

Muvunga, 53, is on trial in Superior Court, charged with three counts of sexual assault for incidents alleged to have occurred in November 2009, May 2010 and July 2010. The identity of his alleged victim is covered by court-imposed publication ban.

The woman, testifying through a French interpreter, said her husband relied on Muvunga to take her to medical appointments. Once he learned his wife was pregnant with Muvunga’s child, he had Muvunga admit in writing that he had taken the woman “by force” and had him make arrangements for an abortion.

The woman said Muvunga attacked her just three months after she arrived in Canada. She said she had no one to confide in. “I was new to this country,” she said. “I did not know where to find help.”

The most she could do, she said, was try to avoid Muvunga, not welcoming him when he came to the home she shared with her husband and five children. She tried to let on that nothing was wrong, but “It was eating me up inside.”

Munroe showed the jury photographs of the woman and Muvunga at family and church functions taken at times after the alleged assaults began. When Munroe pointed out her smile in the photos, she described it as “forced” and “convenient.”

The woman said she and Muvunga are both natives of Congo. Her family and that of Muvunga are from the same tribe. She said she feared Muvunga because he and other members of his family are witch doctors.

“As an educated Christian woman, you are saying he is a witch doctor?” Munroe asked the woman.

“I believe that,” she replied.

The trial, which began Tuesday, is scheduled to last two weeks.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com

• Refugee testifies about alleged sexual assault by immigration counsellor

Trevor Skeates was taking a snowmobile out for a test drive the night he crashed the machine, fatally injuring his longtime friend.

Skeates told Superior Court he was interested in purchasing the 1978 Yamaha from his friend, Ryan Greenham. Greenham handed him a helmet and gloves and let him take the machine out just before midnight on Jan. 9, 2010. Minutes later, Skeates called Greenham from a ditch on Amherstburg’s Con. 9, saying he had crashed and couldn’t find his passenger.

Skeates, 22, is on trial, charged with impaired driving causing the death of Corey Meloche, 19, his friend since childhood. Court has heard previous testimony that Skeates, who was 18 at the time, had at least double the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream at the time of the crash.

Skeates’s lawyer has argued the test results should be not be allowed into evidence at trial, insisting the blood sample was taken from the young man without his consent.

Skeates testified that he and a group of friends arrived at Meloche’s home about 11 p.m. on snowmobiles. He went inside the house briefly, then stood outside talking with Skeates. Greenham said he couldn’t remember what was discussed, but Skeates, in his testimony, said they discussed the sale of the snowmobile.

Skeates said he asked to take the machine out for a drive. Just as Skeates was about to pull away, Meloche jumped on the back.

The young woman, who was the mother of an 11-month-old son, was not wearing a helmet.

Skeates said Greenham had warned him it was foggy. As he drove along Long Marsh Drain, it was hard to see. Skeates said he and Meloche made it over the bridge and visibility “opened up.”

The snowmobile had no speedometer, but Skeates estimated he was driving 10 to 15 km/h. Despite driving slowly, Meloche reached around him and tapped him on the chest, asking him to slow down.

“I was cautious about what what I was doing,” he said.

Earlier in the trial, an accident reconstructionist estimated the speed at the time of the crash at 30 km per hour.

Skeates said he was in the fog again when he “hit a ramp.” He later learned the ramp was a ditch on the side of the concession road.

The snowmobile sailed over the road and landed in the bottom of a deeper ditch on the other side.

The trial again a recording of Skeates’s call to 911. In it, Meloche can be heard. Court heard she was in the bottom on the ditch with the snowmobile on her head.

Meloche’s mother hurried out of the courtroom before the tape was played.

The first question defence lawyer Patrick Ducharme asked Skeates was about his relationship with Meloche’s parents. “We get together fairly often,” Skeates said. “It’s still a very good relationship.”

Skeates and Greenham painted a picture of a tight group of friends who would get together regularly. Assistant Crown attorney Tim Kavanagh accused Greenham, in his testimony, of mitigating Skeates’s sobriety and exaggerating the weather conditions because he didn’t want his friend to go to jail.

Greenham vilified Amherstburg police officer Andrew Challans, who charged Skeates with impaired driving at the scene and returned to Greenham’s home at 6 a.m. to give him a ticket for not having insurance on the snowmobile.

Greenham testified Challans cuffed Skeates in the head as Skeates lay injured near the ditch and berated him using profanity.

Skeates testified he remembers being hit. “I remember being angry,” Skeates said. His friends told him he’d been struck by Challans.

Challans is currently the subject of a Police Act hearing for an unrelated incident in which a young man claims he was assaulted by the officer.

That young man, Brodie Timms-Fryer, was in court watching Skeates’s trial Thursday.

Skeates returns to the witness stand Friday.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com

Twitter @winstarsacheli

• Lawyer challenges whether snowmobiler’s blood taken without consent
• Deadly snowmobile driver’s blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, trial told
• Medical evidence given in snowmobile death case

As Trevor Skeates lay sedated in a hospital room after a snowmobile crash, his mother Karen did what she always does — she picked up his dirty clothes off the floor.

In the front pocket of his pants, she found five beer caps.

Karen Skeates testified Friday at her son’s trial in Superior Court. Trevor Skeates, 22, is charged with impaired driving causing the death of Corey Meloche, 19, his longtime friend. Trevor Skeates was the driver of a snowmobile that crashed into a ditch on Con. 9 in Amherstburg soon after midnight on Jan. 10. 2010. Meloche was his passenger.

Trevor Skeates is also charged with driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream – a separate charge under the Criminal Code.

Trevor Skeates testified that, despite being underage, he consumed five bottles of beer in the hours before the crash, plus another ounce during a drinking game called beer pong.

Trevor Skeates’s drinking came as no surprise to his mother. She testified she had discovered beer caps in his pockets in the past. She said usually, there would be only one or two. Like she did in the hospital, she would count them before throwing them in the trash.

During cross-examination by assistant Crown attorney Tim Kavanagh Friday, Trevor Skeates said test results that showed he had nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream the night of the crash must be wrong.

His lawyer, Patrick Ducharme, is arguing the test results should be excluded as evidence at the trial, insisting the blood sample was taken without consent.

Much of the testimony Friday – from Trevor Skeates and both his parents – delved into the actions of the officer who said he obtained the young man’s written consent for the blood sample.

Amherstburg police officer Andrew Challans was said to have hit Trevor Skeates in the head at the crash scene, swearing and berating him. At the hospital, Challans was said to have roused a sleeping Trevor by repeatedly poking him in the chest with a clipboard.

James Skeates, Trevor’s father, said he had had a past dealing with Challans. James Skeates testified he used to be a border guard. About one year before the crash, Challans pulled up to his booth at primary inspection and flashed his badge.

“I neglected to do my job,” James Skeates testified, saying he didn’t ask Challans any questions. “I released him from the line.”

James Skeates said, before sending the officer on his way, he and Challans had a conversation about a neighbour with a horse.

James Skeates said when he saw Challans in Trevor’s hospital room, he recognized him and reminded him of the conversation they’d had at the border. “He remembered me as well.”

Karen Skeates said she was “very angry” to learn that Challans had allegedly mistreated her son as he lay injured at the crash scene. She said that information came to her after she witnessed the clipboard incident.

James Skeates testified he would like to file a complaint against the officer, but is afraid of reprecussions from Amherstburg police.

Challans is currently before a Police Act hearing for an alleged assault unrelated to this case.

As the officer in charge of the Skeates case, he is allowed to sit in the courtroom at the prosecution table. He has been absent for reasons that have not been disclosed in court.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com Twitter @winstarsacheli

The owner of a Leamington trucking firm will be going to jail and faces a $150,000 fine after abandoning an appeal of a 30-day sentence for dumping sludge waste at unapproved locations.

Daniel Andrew Tiessen owns and operates North Shore Express Ltd., and under his direction in December 2008 one of the company’s vehicles picked up and dumped waste materials on a Leamington property not approved by the Ministry of the Environment as a waste disposal site.

In January 2009 an employee of the company was observed picking up and delivering waste to a property in Chatham-Kent not approved by the MOE.

The exact nature of the waste was not specified in court filings, but in 2005 the company was the target of a letter sent by Leamington council to the MOE regarding tomato waste being spread on fields.

The town was trying to enforce a new odour bylaw at the time and many residents near the tomato sludge dumping sites complained of the smell and the waste’s ability to attract nuisance birds and insects.

In October 2011 North Shore Express Ltd. was fined a total of $150,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $37,500, and Tiessen was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Tiessen was also given two years’ probation prohibiting him from acting as a director or officer of a corporation regulated by MOE approval other than North Shore Express.

Tiessen originally appealed both the sentence and conviction. The appeal of the conviction was dismissed in November 2012 and the appeal of the sentence was abandoned on May 16.

“Environmental protection legislation protects communities and the environment,” Environment Minister Jim Bradley said in a news release.

“Breaking these rules can result in serious penalties and is an offence the ministry takes very seriously.”

There’s no denying that horse trainer Derek Riesberry had a syringe in the paddocks before a race, but what was in it?

The answer could determine if Riesberry will be the first person in Canada to be convicted of a crime for alleged horse doping.

Riesberry’s precedent-setting trial in Superior Court Wednesday heard closing arguments from lawyers in the case. Assistant Crown attorney Brian Manarin reminded the court of video showing Riesberry injecting something into the neck of Everyone’s Fantasy on September 28, 2010, about one hour before the horse placed sixth in a sulky race.

Riesberry, who had become the target of an OPP investigation, was arrested on Nov.7, 2010, after entering the Windsor Raceway property on another race day with syringes filled with epinephrine, Clenbuterol and Clotol.

Manarin said Clenbuterol is a performance-enhancing drug banned from use within 72 hours of a race. Epinephrine is another banned substance and is traditionally only used as a life-saving measure for a horse having a severe allergic reaction, the trial heard. Clotol, while not a banned substance, can be used to calm a skittish horse, Manarin said.

Veterinarians who testified at Riesberry’s trial last fall said the apparent way the trainer injected the substance into the horse’s neck was unorthodox. They surmised that Riesberry wanted the chemical to pool in the animal’s trachea, suggesting it was a performance-enhancing substance he wanted triggered by exercise as the race began.

Riesberry did not testify at trial and no one else offered any other explanation, Manarin said.

But defence lawyer Andrew Bradie argued the video was not definitive. At best, the experts could only say it “appears” Riesberry was administering a tracheal injection. “There was nothing more certain,” Bradie said.

Riesberry is charged with two counts of fraud and two counts of cheating at play. Two more criminal charges related to contravening pari-mutuel betting regulations were withdrawn.

Riesberry’s trial is a first for the Ontario Racing Commission, and, in fact, is a first for the racing industry in all of Canada. In the past, such alleged breaches would be dealt with as licence infractions at regulatory tribunals.

Riesberry is the first person in Canada to go to a criminal trial on such allegations.

His lawyer argued that without definitive proof that Riesberry was using a performance-enhancing substance on his horse, the trainer should be acquitted.

It’s against racing regulations for anyone other than a veterinarian to bring a syringe onto racetrack property. Bradie conceded Riesberry contravened those regulations.

Bradie argued, that, without evidence of what Riesberry may have injected in the horse, the regulatory infraction cannot be “elevated to a criminal charge.”

Riesberry was charged along with fellow trainer Chris Haskell and Haskell’s girlfriend Cassie Nantais. Charges against Nantais were dropped. Haskell goes to trial in November.

Superior Court Justice Steven Rogin reserved judgment in Riesberry’s case until at least mid-June.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @winstarsacheli

A St. Joachim woman is suing her husband, Canadian Pacific Railway and the Town of Lakeshore for a 2012 train-minivan crash that claimed the lives of two of her young children.

Angie Williams has filed a $9.1-million lawsuit claiming negligence, seeking damages for herself and her two surviving children.

Andrew Williams was driving his 2000 Dodge Caravan on Strong Road June 10, 2012 with his four children — Jasmyn, then1 ½, Brooklyn, 3, Dryden,4, and Wynter, 6, — as passengers. About 9:35 a.m., the van was struck by a westbound train at a level crossing north of County Road 42.

Wynter and Brooklyn suffered fatal injuries. Dryden suffered what has been described in the lawsuit as “severe and permanent” injuries that have left him with physical and cognitive impairment.

“He will be restricted in his ability to function in his daily activities on a permanent basis,” the statement of claim says.

Among the allegations against Andrew Williams are that he was speeding or using his cellphone at the time of the crash. In a shotgun approach common in negligence lawsuits, the lawsuit further claims that he was an “incompetent driver,” he was “under the influence of intoxicants or drugs” and was “affected by fatigue.”

The lawsuit also alleges the minivan had mechanical defects.

None of the allegations contained in the statement of claim has been tested in court.

Lawyer Greg Monforton, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Angie Williams and her surviving children, said the statement of claim addresses “all potential instances of negligence against all parties.”

He said Andrew Williams is named as a defendant as “an insured driver” and that he and his wife are still together.

“It’s always prudent in any motor vehicle incident to sue both drivers.”

Also being sued is the unnamed train engineer.

Monforton said the lawsuit is “in the process of being served” on the defendants. There was no indication in the Superior Court file that any of the defendants have received copies of the lawsuit.

The Town of Lakeshore did not return phone messages from The Star and CP Rail declined comment.

The railway company also refused to say how many times it has been sued in the past.

The crossing, like many in Lakeshore, has only unlit signs warning of tracks ahead — no flashing lights, bells nor gates.

The crash led to public calls for improvements to that crossing and other level crossings like it. The federal Transportation Safety Board declined to investigate the crash, believing there was nothing to be learned from it to improve public safety in the future.

“What the entire family wants is answers,” Monforton said. “They want to prevent this type of tragedy from ever happening again.”

The allegations against the railway company and the municipality concern the lack of signals at the crossing, and their “failure to make the crossing safe for the public,” Monforton said.

He said it is the family’s position that the crossing should have signals, lights and bars to warn and prevent people from making the same mistake Andrew Williams did.

“If Andrew had been prevented from driving onto the tracks, this incident would not have occurred and those children would still be alive.”

ssacheli@windsorstar.com

Twitter @winstarsacheli

A Windsor police officer charged with stealing lottery tickets may have to testify about his alleged crime whether he likes it or not.

A Superior Court judge will rule Tuesday whether Const. Timothy Kettlewell will be compelled to testify at the trial of accused drug dealer Ziad Chafchak about his own criminal charges.

Kettlewell was the investigating officer who had Chafchak charged in 2008 with two counts of trafficking in cocaine. Kettlewell testified earlier this year at Chafchak’s trial. Weeks later, he was himself arrested and charged with theft in an unrelated case.

Details of Kettlewell’s alleged crime and arrest were heard at Chafchak’s trial Monday. They form the basis of a defence request to have Kettlewell called back to the witness stand to question his credibility.

According to documents discussed at Chafchak’s trial Monday, Kettlewell was dispatched to a residence on April 10 to retrieve a satchel described by police as “found property.”

The contents of the satchel included two lottery tickets. Kettlewell returned the satchel to its rightful owner, minus the lottery tickets.

Kettlewell denied taking the tickets. Police later learned he had signed them and taken them to a Mac’s convenience store to cash them in, court heard Monday.

He was arrested on April 17.

Chafchak’s lawyer said Kettlewell is a “crucial witness” for the prosecution. His testimony included a description of watching Chafchak coming and going from a stash house before his arrest.

“We made some strong suggestions that he was not telling the truth,” said Patrick Ducharme.

“I’m looking for the opportunity to cross-examine him on the criminal charges he is currently charged with,” Ducharme said.

“His credibility and reliability is fundamental to this case.”

The federal prosecutor presenting the case against Chafchak argued Kettlewell’s own troubles with the law have nothing to do with the drug trial.

“Absolutely nothing can come from asking him, ‘Did you steal those lottery tickets?’” said Clyde Bond.

Besides, Kettlewell has a “certain expectation of privacy,” said Bond. “He has the right not to speak.”

Chafchak maintains he was an informant who gave police tips that led to the arrests of drug dealers in Windsor.

He testified police framed him after he ratted out cops who were involved in drugs.

Chafchak’s handler, Const. Ted Novack, vehemently denied the suggestion when he testified Monday.

“No way. Absolutely not, ” Novack said when asked if police set up Chafchak. Other officers, including Kettlewell, have also denied that Chafchak was targeted.

Names heard in court Monday and earlier in the trial were former police officers Michael Shannon and John Ryan, both of whom broke the law to support drug habits. Court heard Ryan was a drugs unit officer who was addicted to cocaine and that later cases he was involved in never proceeded to trial because his credibility as a witness was tainted.

Shannon was forced to resign after he stole money from an undercover RCMP officer in a sting operation.

Bond told the court the trial will be delayed if Kettlewell is to be called back to the witness stand. Without elaborating, he said the officer will not be unavailable to come to court for an “extended” period of time.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @winstarsacheli

In a possible Canadian first, a Windsor police officer will have to testify about an alleged theft he committed in an unrelated case — even though he has the right to remain silent if his own case goes to trial.

Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn ruled Tuesday that Const. Timothy Kettlewell — who in April was charged with allegedly stealing two lottery tickets — will have to testify about accusations against him in the drug trafficking trial of Ziad Chafchak.

Chafchak has alleged that he worked for eight or nine years as an informant and agent for Windsor police before he was double-crossed in March 2008 and charged with trafficking cocaine in an investigation led by Kettlewell.

Defence lawyer Patrick Ducharme has suggested in court that Kettlewell has not been honest with the Chafchak case. In making an application to the court to force Kettlewell to testify about his own activities in the Chafchak trial, Ducharme argued that the allegations of theft against the veteran officer speak to his credibility as a witness.

“It would be very convenient for this court to dismiss this application,” Quinn said in his ruling, noting that the Chafchak trial will now be delayed. “Ziad Chafchak, however, is entitled to have this court consider all relevant evidence, no matter how inconvenient.

“The evidence of the allegations against Timothy Kettlewell are relevant, in my judgment, to the issue of credibility and reliability.”

Quinn said that the issue of police credibility is especially important given the history the force has had with Chafchak over the years.

Several officers have testified that Chafchak was an informant but not an agent — in other words, not someone who buys drug samples for police.

Quinn referred to the case of former Windsor police officer Michael Shannon, who pleaded guilty in October 2008 to stealing $425 in an RCMP sting operation. Shannon told the court at the time that he had long battled a drug and alcohol addiction.

Chafchak testified earlier this year at his trial that he supplied information to police that helped bring down Shannon.

“Ziad Chafchak’s defence, I believe, will be that the drug squad officers were angry at him for ratting out fellow officer Michael Shannon and that Mr. Chafchak’s arrest on May 15, 2008, was retribution,” Quinn said.

Federal prosecutor Clyde Bond said Kettlewell cannot testify for a while.

“He is unavailable for the foreseeable future,” Bond told the court. “I don’t know how long it will be.”

Kettlewell faces charges of theft under $5,000, possession of stolen property and two counts of uttering a forged document.

Quinn set June 14 as the day to figure out the next date in the Chafchak matter.

He says it was an extramarital affair. She says it was rape.

Which depiction is accurate is now up to jurors who have begun deliberating in the trial of Binaishea (Fred) Muvunga, a Seventh-day Adventist Church deacon charged with sexually assaulting the same woman three times.

Muvunga, a native of Congo who also lived in Uganda, helped refugees settle in Windsor. That’s how he got close to a woman who came here from his homeland in 2009. She says within three months of arriving in Windsor, he was holding her down and forcing sex on her.

Muvunga, 53, is charged with three counts of sexual assault for incidents alleged to have occurred in November 2009, May 2010 and July 2010. Muvunga admits to having sex with the woman on those occasions, but says it was consensual.

Muvunga admitted to having an affair with the woman. He said she seduced him and that he was too “weak” to resist.

The woman tells a different story. After the first attack, she says he told her. “If you denounce me, I will hurt you.” She testified she was terrified because, back in their homeland, Muvunga was known as a witch doctor.

The woman said she kept the alleged assaults secret because she feared her husband would leave her. Her husband testified at trial that being raped is considered adultery unless the victim resists “until death.”

In her closing address to the jury Tuesday, assistant Crown attorney Elizabeth Brown told the jury to consider the cultural background of the alleged victim and her personal circumstances at the time.

“Assess her reasons for what she did,” Brown said.

But defence lawyer Kirk Munroe said the woman’s motives are clear.

“This case is about false accusation.”

Munroe said the woman cried rape when she had to explain her pregnancy to her husband who, because of a vasectomy, could father no more children.

“No one can tame the tongue,” Munroe said, quoting the Bible, explaining how her alleged lie grew until she was tangled in its web.

Reading from letters penned by the woman and sent anonymously to various people in her social circle, including Muvunga’s wife and sons, Munroe said the woman set about to ruin the man to save her own reputation.

Muvunga had intervened in a dispute between the woman and her teenage daughter. He took the girl’s side and helped her move out of her parents’ home.

The woman never forgave him.

In one of the letters, she accused him of holding hands and kissing her daughter. Court heard no evidence her daughter was ever in a relationship with Muvunga.

She wrote anonymously to Muvunga’s sons warning them their father intended to give all his money to the girl.

“Why is she smearing her own daughter?” Munroe asked.

“This woman is very dangerous….Don’t be deceived by her.”

After hearing two weeks of testimony and getting final instructions from Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance, the jury began deliberating at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @winstarsacheli

Fred Muvunga broke down in tears as a jury acquitted him Wednesday of sexually assaulting an African refugee he was helping to settle in Windsor.

He then rushed to his son – his only supporter in court Wednesday – and held him in a long embrace.

Muvunga, whose real given name is Binaishea, was accused of sexually assaulting the same woman three times in 2009 and 2010. She said she kept silent about the alleged abuse because she had just arrived in Canada, didn’t know the culture and had no one in which to confide. She went to police after becoming pregnant with Muvunga’s child and having an abortion.

Muvunga, 53, a married father of five originally from Congo, testified he had been having an affair with the woman. He insisted the sex they’d had was consensual and that it was always initiated by the woman.

“It’s been a long hard journey for him,” said defence lawyer Kirk Munroe. After the allegations, Muvunga’s wife left him and he became estranged from members of the Seventh-day Adventist church where he had been a deacon. He also lost his job as a counsellor with a local agency that helps new immigrants settle here.

His own application for Canadian citizenship was put on hold pending the trial outcome.

Muvunga moved to Ottawa where he attended university and obtained a master’s degree, Munroe said.

“He’s an extremely bright, articulate man,” Munroe said, calling him the kind of immigrant Canada should be proud to welcome.

The jury deliberated for a full day on the case, beginning at 2 p.m. Tuesday and returning its verdict about the same time Wednesday. Before returning a verdict, the jury asked for and received more instruction from  Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance on the legal concept of reasonable doubt.

“I truly believe the jury put a lot of thought into this case. They didn’t come to a quick decision,” said assistant Crown attorney Elizabeth Brown, who prosecuted the case. “They contemplated and really thought out their decision. That’s all we can ask. They did their job.”

• Alleged rape victim accused of lying
• Refugee testifies about alleged sexual assault by immigration counsellor

Munroe admitted the amount of time the jury spent deliberating had him worried for Muvunga. “I was deathly afraid there would be a miscarriage of justice and he would be put in prison. In the end, they did the right thing,” he said of jurors.

The allegations split the local African community of which Muvunga had been a well-respected member. Both Muvunga and his accuser came from Congo and had lived in Uganda as refugees before seeking asylum in Canada.

Their families had known each other in their homeland and, despite not being blood relatives, called each other “cousin.”

The trial offered a glimpse into the African culture. When someone comes to your home, you prepare them a meal. If a married woman is raped, it’s considered adultery, unless, as the alleged victim’s husband testified, she fights off her attacker “until death.”

The woman said Muvunga and members of his family were witch doctors. “I believe it,” the woman testified.

Both Muvunga and his accuser testified in the trial. Munroe exposed inconsistencies in the woman’s testimony and in his closing address, called her a “cunning” and “manipulative” liar.

“Only two people know exactly what happened and they both testified,” Munroe said.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @winstarsacheli

Jodi Talbot was asleep at a friend’s house when someone busted in the door and repeatedly hit her on the head with a hammer.

Battered, bruised and with a broken finger, Talbot gave police a videotaped statement only hours later, identifying Brett Kersey and his girlfriend Jamie Bray as her assailants. At trial months later, Talbot said she wasn’t sure.

“We all know what’s going on here. Ms. Talbot has been threatened,” assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes told the court Thursday.

Kersey, 51, and Bray, 33, are on trial, charged with break and enter, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats in relation to the June 3, 2012 offence. Charges against Kersey’s daughters, Talea Dupuis, 22, and Cheyenne Dupuis, 19, were withdrawn.

Talbot was a reluctant witness. She didn’t show up to testify on the first day of trial in November, so the judge issued a warrant for her arrest. Police found her in December and hauled her before a justice of the peace. She promised to return the next day to testify.

Again she didn’t show up and went on the lam until April when they arrested her for an unrelated offence. She was kept in jail for six weeks until Bray and Kersey’s next trial date.

When she finally made it to the witness stand, Talbot told the court her memory was foggy. “I thought it was Brett, but looking back at it, it could have been a multitude of people,” she said.

Talbot tried to explain her faulty memory on the fact that she’d been on a 14-day drug binge at the time of her June 3, 2012 assault.

But Holmes called it a convenient case of memory loss wrought out of fear.

Holmes made the argument that Talbot’s videotaped statement to police be substituted for her live testimony at trial. In it, she said her assailants called her “a rat.” They said she would die and that it was “her time.”

They grabbed her by the throat and choked her, she says in the videotape. When they were through, they said they would harm her family if she talked to police.

Defence lawyers Maria Carroccia and Linda McCurdy argued that Talbot’s testimony at trial should take precedence.

Neither called any evidence at trial Thursday.

Ontario court Justice Lloyd Dean is expected to give his ruling on the case in July.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com

Twitter @winstarsacheli

Bernie Bulat used his Ford Taurus like a weapon last year when he tried to kill his ex-girlfriend’s new beau.

Bulat, 74, was convicted of attempted murder Friday for running down Brian Meloche, 60, on Howard Avenue and Highway 3.

On that day, Bulat was stalking his ex-girlfriend, Wen Fen (Jennifer) Liu, following her to the legion hall where she attended weekly dances. As he had done many times before at other locations where he knew Liu would be, Bulat waited outside hoping to steal a glimpse of her. When she came out of the building with Meloche’s arm wrapped around her, Bulat reacted badly.

He watched the couple get into their car, then followed it down the road. When it stopped for a red light, Bulat rammed it from behind.

He got no reaction, so he backed up and rammed again even harder.

When Meloche got out, Bulat sped at him. Meloche was thrown several metres into the intersection.

Bulat, a retired Harrow elementary school teacher, was also convicted Friday of criminal negligence and leaving the scene of a crash knowing someone was hurt.

He had been warned repeatedly by judges to stay away from Liu. He had just spent five days in jail for breaching those orders.

Friday, he was additionally convicted with criminal harassment and breach of recognizance.

Bulat took the witness stand at his trial and insisted he had only meant to scare Meloche.

Superior Court Justice Christopher Bondy did not believe him.

The crime was caught on traffic cameras mounted at the intersection. Bulat’s testimony was “irreconcilable” with what was on the video, Bondy said.

“There is no reasonable doubt Bulat intended to kill Meloche.”

Meloche suffered a broken tailbone, cuts, scrapes and bruising. Police confiscated his pants as evidence because there were tire tracks across them.

Meloche, a former dance instructor, hasn’t done much dancing since the incident. When Bondy mentioned that in his judgment Friday, Bulat let out a chuckle.

Outside the courtroom, Meloche said he’s lucky to be alive. An excavator arm fell on him in 2001 at the metal recycling yard where he worked and cracked his skull. He has had brain surgery once.

“I can’t take another blow to the head,” he said, explaining how he put his arms up to shield his skull when Bulat ran him over. Meloche “luckily” landed on the side of his face, he said.

Meloche and Liu said they will prepare statements for the court about how the crime has impacted them. They will be presented at Bulat’s sentencing hearing later this month.

Defence lawyer Brian Dube told the judge that there’s no need to prepare reports on Bulat for the hearing. Bulat has already been the subject of a psychiatric report and, because of his past convictions related to stalking Liu, he has already been interviewed by a probation officer to document his background.

For 35 years, Bulat was a beloved school teacher and coach. He would arrive at school early in the morning and stay late to keep the gym open for kids who wanted to practice.

He’d even pick them up at home if they couldn’t get a ride.

In his court testimony, he said he suffered a nervous breakdown and stopped teaching in 1999 after his wife died.

Bulat has already been in jail for 15 months awaiting trial. Dube told the court that at the sentencing hearing he will be seeking enhanced credit of 1 ½ days’ credit for every day Bulat has spent in jail.

Attempted murder, the most serious conviction, has no minimum sentence. The maximum is life in prison.

ssacheli@windsorstar.com

Twitter @winstarsacheli

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