Forensic evidence among the latest testimony at Colin Tweedie re-trial

Day three of the re-trial of a Cape Breton man charged in the 2019 death of a 10-year-old girl heard testimony from the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on the girl the day after the fatal crash in July 2019.

Talia Forrest was riding her bike with a friend on the Black Rock Road in Black Rock, N.S., on the evening of July 11, 2019, when she was struck by a vehicle and killed.

Colin Tweedie, 32, is charged with dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident.

He was acquitted on those charges two years ago, but the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned the decision and ordered a new trial.

At Sydney Supreme Court on Friday, Dr. Erik Mont of the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner's Office testified that the young girl's body had multiple blunt force injuries, the most severe of which were to the head.

He said along with multiple skull fractures and fractures of facial bones, there was a complete severing of the spinal cord at the brain stem - an injury he classified as "non-survivable."

Another witness was Leah Luker, the ex-girlfriend of a volunteer firefighter who had been playing darts with Colin Tweedie shortly before the crash.

She testified that she had been out for a walk with her daughter taking photos of wildlife, and saw Tweedie's SUV in the driveway when she returned home.

She said she saw Tweedie with a beer in his hand, adding that she got close to him while showing him some of her pictures and said he "seemed normal" and she was not concerned about his level of sobriety.

At the crash scene later in the evening, she said she called Tweedie's phone, and his girlfriend picked up and confirmed he made it home.

A short time later, when Luker's partner David Edwards told her it was a hit-and-run, she said she called back and asked if Tweedie was involved. Ultimately, she told police to go to Tweedie's address and check his vehicle for damage.

The third witness was David MacLean, a teenager at the time who found Forrest's bike in the middle of the road while out walking.

The bicycle was in the courtroom as evidence during his testimony, which Justice Kevin Coady acknowledged could be 'triggering' for some, adding “This is a very traumatized community. Even with the passage of time, there is still a lot of fresh grief."

The Crown said it expects to call the RCMP accident reconstructionist who testified at the original trial two years ago as one of its next witnesses when the re-trial resumes on Monday.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.