"I still don't know how I didn't see the man!" This was the statement of a 25-year-old woman, implicated in a fatal accident in January 2017 at the Cactus Howald, on Wednesday at the Luxembourg Court.
That evening, while heading home after a shopping trip, the accused hit a 77-year-old man on the pedestrian crossing in front of the main entrance.
Five days later, the victim died in hospital. On Wednesday, the trial revolved mainly around whether she had hit the elderly man head-on or, as she said, she ran him over.
"The man was knocked over: did you not notice the impact?" the President of the Court asked the woman, to which she replied "I can't explain it myself!"
The medical examiner also seemed to be of the opinion that the injuries to the victim's shins implied that he had been run over.
The woman, who claims to have looked both directions, thought she had only hit the pavement. It wasn't until she got out of her car that she spotted the man on the ground. She hadn't been distracted, but perhaps some refuse bins had hidden the man from view.
At the end of her testimony, the young woman apologised.
One witness testified to hearing what they thought was a car hitting the pavement, while an officer stated that the small bump on the car did not seem to correspond to the victim's injuries. Aside from the injuries to his shins, the victim had also suffered a head injury, confirmed the medical examiner.
The plaintiff's lawyer, Mr Dobek, demanded a sum of just over €315,000 for victim's family, however defense lawyer Mr Fettig insisted on 3 key points which, according to him, spoke in favour of her acquittal: firstly, his client had admitted to running over something from the beginning; secondly, her car bore no obvious signs of contact, and finally, the witness statement seemed to confirm her version of events.
The representative of the Public Prosecutor's office, however, thinks the young woman was not careful enough.
Due to "the seriousness of the facts and lack of repentance", the prosecution requested three months in prison, a fine and a 24-month driving ban against the young woman.
The tribunal will deliver its verdict on April 4.
