Lengthy closing arguments detail 'jigsaw puzzle' trial of Jesse Bleck

A jury heard more than five hours of closing statements from the Crown on Monday as the trial of Jesse Bleck inched closer to its conclusion. 

The case comes down to determining, beyond a reasonable doubt, exactly who was behind the wheel of the silver Nissan Altima that struck cyclist Tristan Roby, then 17, and left him with life-altering injuries on the night of July 21, 2019.

Bleck, 26, has been charged with driving while prohibited and failing to remain at the scene of a collision causing bodily harm. 

Those charges were thrown into question after Bleck's friend Ahmad Jamal confessed in 2019 that he was the driver of the car, but then gave contradictory and incomplete details during last week's testimony. 

"This case is a jigsaw puzzle, with a lot of moving parts," Crown prosecutor Artem Orlov told the jury. 

Orlov argued evidence —combined with "common sense" — points to Bleck as the one responsible for what happened to Roby. Bleck's health card and birth certificate were found between the centre console and driver's seat that night, along with his fingerprints on the driver's side of the vehicle. 

Cell phone records traced Bleck's movements that night going from London to Port Stanley then to Port Talbot, back to the Southdale area in London, then to the collision site on Exeter Road. 

During his testimony, Jamal was unable to recall where the car had gone that night — something Orlov argued he would have remembered easily had he been driving. Instead, Jamal proved a difficult witness, saying the car went straight from Port Stanley to London. He almost fell asleep on the stand while a video of his 2019 confession played before the court. 

"He's a dangerous witness for you to put your faith into," said Orlov. 

Following a break, defence lawyer Geoff Snow opened by saying the Crown's evidence simply doesn't give a definitive answer to the question of who was driving at the time of the incident. 

"Cell tower maps are not a navigation system," said Snow. "They show what towers the cell phones connected to that night." 

The health card and birth certificate had been placed in the driver's seat after investigators found them in the car, he said, but it's not clear where they originally were. He cast doubt over another witness' reliability due to his own past charges, and his misidentifying Bleck in a lineup of photos. 

The Crown argued it doesn't make sense that Bleck would share a car that he evidently took pride in as its owner — he had invested in new rims just before the collision, and then tried to sell the car on Kijiji for parts afterwards. 

In return, Snow argued that sharing was common in Bleck's circle. Insurance records show his cousin owned the car, and he was selling it as a favour to a family member.