Both survivors of a 2017 crash along Calabogoie Road that killed two and seriously injured two others have now testified in court.
The trial against the former server from Shooters Bar and Grill in Calabogie continued today (Thursday, April 29th, 2021).
Ann Senack of Greater Madawaska if facing two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
It’s alleged that Ms. Senack served four underage hockey players past the point of intoxication, before they were involved in a car crash that killed two and seriously injured two others.
One of the survivors of the crash, Ben Scheuneman, testified in court this morning.
Scheuneman was hospitalized for 3-months after the crash and required a ventilator and feeding tube. The victim told the court he suffered a broken pelvis, broken collarbone, ruptured spleen, brain bleeding in three spots and left sided clonus as a result of the head injuries. The court was shown a video from roughly 2-weeks after the crash, where Scheuneman, who was 18-years-old, was learning how to eat apple sauce again. He told the court after the crash he needed to take speech therapy for 3-years.
Schuneman testified that everyone in the vehicle, including the driver Brandon Hanniman, were drinking beer while on the way to the bar.
Scheuneman also testified that only himself and Alex Paquette were asked to provide identification and they both showed fake IDs. Scheuneman said he wasn’t asked to provide his address, date of birth or a signature to authenticate the drivers license which belonged to his older brother.
Jacob McGrimmon, the other survivor of the crash, told the court earlier this week he was not asked to prove he was the legal drinking age, despite only being 18. McGrimmon also testified that the bartender was related to one of his moms friends.
Scheuneman told the court when they arrived at the bar, Ms. Senack told them someone from the liquor license board was at the establishment. When asked why the group was told that, Scheuneman said it was because the bartender knew they were underage.
Four of the five individuals at Shooters Bar and Grill on October 26th, 2017 were 18-years-old and not the legal age to be consuming alcohol in Ontario. The fifth individual was 19-years-old and did not get in the car that crashed at the end of the night. The five young men were at Shooters Bar and Grill in Calabogie for about 2-hours.
On camera, the five teenagers can be seen drinking two pitchers of beer, four bottles of beer, five Rum and Coke, two Caesars, 21 Polar Bear shots, two Porn Star shots, three Burt Reynolds shots and four shots of tequila. The defense team for Senack argued the 51 drinks served to the five teenagers only worked out to 25.53 standard drinks (about 5-drinks each), since the beers were only 4% and 1 ounce shot glasses were used.
McGrimmon told the court him and all his friends lied to the bartender and told them they had arranged for a taxi. Scheuneman said Ms. Senack never asked if they had a designated driver.
Scheuneman told the court his friends (Brandon Hanniman, Alex Paquette, Jacob McGrimmon and Alex Markus) were visibly drunk at the bar. Scheuneman pointed to video clips from inside the bar showing the young men dancing, howling, playing air guitar with the pool sticks and what he described as “wobbly” when walking.
When Scheuneman was asked why he got in the car knowing the driver Mr. Hanniman was intoxicated, he told the court he trusted his best friend to get them home safely and didn’t think it would be this rough.
Scheuneman told the court there were empty beer cans all over the car, but not all of them were consumed the night of the crash. Scheuneman testified that he did not see any of his friends do drugs that night, but 45-minutes before they left the bar, he said three of them came back inside and smelled like a joint. In October of 2017, marijuana was still illegal in Canada.
Almost 70 people tuned into the court proceedings which are being carried out virtually over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Scheuneman will be cross-examined by the defense team tomorrow (Friday, April 30th, 2021).
PREVIOUS STORIES:
Survivor of fatal 2017 crash on Calabogie Road testifies in Senack trial
Smart serve and video clips from victims phone reviewed during Senack trial
Senack defense argues 51 served drinks equals 25 standard drinks
