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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1996 PAGE 21.
Judge won't buy accused's testimony
Cornish suggested that Gault's
state of intoxication that night
impaired her memory and that she —
had given Watson permission to
take the car, but didn't recall it.
Gault argued, however, that she
would never under any circum-
stances let someone else drive her
car if they had been drinking.
"But it's safe to say that if you
did forget something about that
evening, you're certainly not going
to remember today, correct?" said
Cornish.
"Would you?" she countered.
Cornish responded, "I get to ask
the questions. Do you concede it's
at least possible?"
"Possible," Gault said, "but I'm
not going to let someone drive my
car drunk. Not ever."
Watson testified that after they
had all gone to sleep, he awoke and
Despite a sincere attempt to con-
vince the judge of his innocence, a
Stratford man was found guilty of
car theft, when he appeared in
Wingham's provincial court, Feb.
21.
William Watson, 20, pled not
guilty to the charges, which were
laid as a result of an incident on
Feb. 17, 1995.
The Crown's first witness, Dean-
na Gault, owner of the car, said that
on that day she, Watson and anoth-
er man had gone to Stratford, fol-
lowing a meeting to visit friends
and go to the bars.
When they came back to Blyth,
Gault, who was living in Zurich at
the time, decided to stay at Wat-
son's apartment as, she admitted,
she was too drunk to go any fur-
ther. "I shouldn't have driven from
Stratford," she said.
A Kitchener man is spending
some time in jail after pleading
guilty to several counts of theft in
Wingham's provincial court on Feb.
21.
Mark Mederak, 20, was facing
three charges of theft over $5,000
and two of under $5,000.
Attorney for the Crown
MacEwen Egener told the court
that on June 26, a 1981 Camaro
was stolen from a residence south
of Wingham. Other vehicles in the
area had been searched and a flash-
light and cigarettes taken.
That same day a 1993 Ford,
which had been repotted stolen
from Waterloo, was found in Hul-
lett Twp. Egener said it had been
used to bring Mederak and a co-
accused to the area.
The pair later stole a 1988 GMC
pickup truck from a Hullett Twp.
location. This was later found in
Waterloo. The Camaro was recov-
ered in Logan Twp and returned to
According to Gault when she
awoke the next morning her jacket
and car were gone. At approximate-
ly 10 a.m. a tow truck, Watson and
the other man were inside, brought
her car back. The fender was
smashed.
She said Watson agreed to pay
for damages and she would not lay
charges. She did twa months later
after a cheque from Watson
bounced.
Gault told Attorney for the
Crown MacEwen Egener, there had
been no discussion regarding the
use of the car and she had not given
Watson permission to use it.
Defense counsel Phil Cornish
questioned Gault on whether she
becomes forgetful when intoxicat-
ed. "Depends how much I drink,"
said Gault.
the owner.
Mederak has a previous record,
including several convictions as a
young offender.
Egener told presiding Judge
Garry Hunter that the other man
involved had appeared in court in
September. He had received a 12
month jail term, and suggested that
Mederak's be the same.
Defense counsel David Lang,
however, suggested that the sen-
tence for his client, whose case had
been set for trial, be in the lower
range.
In sentencing Mederak to a total
of nine months, Judge Hunter said,
"A guilty plea on the day set for
trial doesn't win you any brownie
points."
Crime of
the Week
THEFT ALL-TERRAIN
VEHICLE
On Feb. 17 or 18 an ATV was
stolen from a residence on
Alexander Street in Brussels. The
ATV is a 1986 Suzuki orange in
colour, plate #317HL and VIN
#JSAAJ43A0G2107507.
noticing he was out of cigarettes,
roused her to ask if he could take
her car to Clinton. "She said 'Mm-
hmm'. I asked her where her keys
were, she told me in her jacket so I
borrowed it at the same time."
The accident occurred, he said,
when he and the other man took an
alternate route home and slid into a
snowbank.
Watson said he told Gault he
would pay for repairs when she
gave him a bill. "It was never pre-
sented," he said.
Judge Hunter wondered how the
friend happened to be in the car as
well. Watson sa id that he had
awakened and asked to go along.
In summation Cornish pointed
out inconsistencies in Gault's story
and cited examples of poor judge-
ment on her part, such as driving
while impaired.
He noted in Gault's testimony she
too had indicated that they were out
of cigarettes and suggested that it
was "not unreasonable to assume
that she may have forgotten she
gave permission."
However, when Cornish suggest-
ed that there was reasonable doubt
as to his client's guilt, Judge Hunter
replied, "I don't have any doubt. I
don't believe your client."
He added that if Gault was as
intoxicated as Cornish was suggest-
ing there was question as to
whether or not she was in any con-
dition to give valid consent. Judge
Hunter said he also found the
explanation of why the other man
was along for the ride, implausible.
Prior to sentencing, Larry Baker
of Stratford took the stand to speak
on Watson's behalf'. Suffering from
a disability he credited Watson,
with whom he shares a residence,
for saving his life on at least one
occasion. The law enforcement
graduate said he felt Watson was
becoming more responsible, adding
that he wouldn't live with someone
"who didn't pay their own way."
Cornish told Judge Hunter that he
believed Watson has taken a
change of outlook on life and asked
for a non-custodial sentence.
Judge Hunter placed him on pro-
bation for 12 months. He also fined
him $500 or 25 days and ordered
him to make restitution to Gault in
the amount of $368.
Kitchener man goes to jail
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