Mamadi Camara used his cell phone while driving on the highway for a few minutes before being intercepted by a police officer and then wrongly arrested for attempting to kill him. The star witness half-heartedly admitted this to the jury in an evasive statement on Thursday when he returned to the witness stand in the trial of Ali Ngarukiye.
Posted at 2:08 p.m.
For two months, witnesses followed each other at the Montreal courthouse at the trial of Ali Ngarukiye, a 24-year-old man accused of trying to kill police officer Sanjay Vig on January 28, 2021. The case caused a lot of noise because the man who called 911, Mamadi Camara, had been wrongly accused of the crime.
In early September, Mamadi Camara told the jury that he was intercepted by Officer Vig of the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) because he was using his cell phone while driving – which he denies. He then told jurors that he saw a man punch the police officer while he was waiting in his car to be handed his ticket.
Two months later, Mamadi Camara was called back to the witness stand on Thursday – an unusual situation. His testimony focused solely on his cell phone use on the fateful day.
Although these questions appear to have no connection to the violent attack on the police officer, they are relevant to determining Mamadi Camara’s credibility. Especially since he did not present the jury with the same version of events as Agent Vig.
Mamadi Camara initially explained that he sent two short text messages – a phone number and the words “my brother” – while waiting to receive the ticket.
However, the telephone statements show the opposite. In fact, the two messages were sent approximately six minutes before they were intercepted by Agent Vig on Crémazie Boulevard. He then drove on the Décarie motorway on the way back from the airport. Along the way, Camara also searched for “EPL” on the Internet to check the English Premier League (EPL) tables.
Faced with this evidence, Mamadi Camara was particularly evasive, contenting herself with giving vague answers to prosecutor Louis Bouthillier’s questions: “It’s possible” or “I don’t remember”. “I can’t say I did it, but it’s possible,” the witness said.
Under cross-examination, Mamadi Camara eventually recalled using her phone while driving just minutes before the interception. However, he admitted to just tapping on the screen of the device placed in the passenger seat without ever picking up the phone. A scenario strongly suggested by defense attorney Sharon Sandiford.
Was Mamadi Camara using his cell phone when Agent Vig saw him? This question was not discussed on Thursday. Earlier in the trial, Mamadi Camara said she didn’t “remember” using her phone. The witness also claimed that he never raised his voice to the police officer. Conversely, Officer Vig Mamadi described Camara to the jury as an angry man who had “knives in his eyes.”
According to Crown evidence, Ali Ngarukiye planned his attack on Officer Vig in January 2021. He planned it all a few days before the crime by stealing two cars. After the events, Ngarukiye went into hiding in Ontario, specifically in a mosque.
The trial continues on Friday before Judge François Dadour.