‘I didn’t see him’: Former Ontario college basketball star testifies at his hit-and-run trial

Wearing a navy suit, white dress shirt, blue tie and designer sneakers, Adam Hosseini testified that he had no idea he had struck a person on May 7, 2023, at his failure to remain at the scene of an accident causing death trial Monday.

The former Durham College basketball player, who had been named the most valuable player for the 2022-2023 season, told court he had spent the day before at a basketball tournament and was hanging out at a friend’s house near Sheppard Avenue and Markham Road the evening before.

Still parched from playing two games that day, Hosseini, who was 24 at the time, told Ontario Court Justice Michael Block that he decided to drive his mother’s car to a nearby Circle K to get a Powerade drink. He testified he was unlicensed at the time.

As he was driving westbound on Sheppard Avenue East, near Markham Road, around 12:30 a.m., Hosseini testified he thought he might have clipped a pothole or a pylon but after looking in his rear-view mirror and blind spot and seeing a construction site, he thought he must have hit a pylon.

During cross-examination, assistant Crown attorney Robert Fried asked how he could explain hitting a pylon if he didn’t see one behind him. “Just because I hit it doesn’t mean I knocked it over,” he said.

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Fried asked why Hosseini didn’t get out of the car to check what he had hit. “I’ve been in multiple cars with a friend,” he said. “You’re not going to check it every time you drive over a pothole.”

Fried also showed dash camera video from a TTC bus that was behind Hosseini’s red Mazda sedan to the court which appeared to show the Mazda swerving slightly before brake lights went on.

“I’m suggesting you did see him briefly before but didn’t have time to brake,” said Friend.

“Not a chance sir. Why would I not stop? I didn’t see him. At the end of the day, I have to live with this, every day, I live with regret of driving that vehicle,” Hosseini replied.

Hosseini said the slight swerve might have been due to an alignment issue with the car. “If I (sic) seen him, it would have been a big swerve. I probably would have gone into oncoming traffic,” he said.

Hosseini said he didn’t pull over because he didn’t think there was any reason to. “Why would I stop my car to check those things that are commonly seen on the road?” he responded.

“I’m suggesting to you, if you had some idea you might have hit a person not a pylon, that’s going to create a situation where police get involved and then you would have to answer why you were driving without a license,” said Fried.

Hosseini answered, “I’m not thinking for me to get in trouble if I hit someone, from the bottom of my heart.”

Fried reminded Hosseini that just a month prior, he got a ticket for driving without a license.

“This occasion that Mr Acorn died tragically, you were also driving without a license and you had suspicions you might have hit a person but you didn’t want to find out,” he suggested. “If you did get out, police would have come and you would have gotten in trouble.”

Hosseini was adamant that he had seen no one. “That’s not true. If I had seen Mr. Acorn before or after, I would have helped him. I (sic) never seen him before,” he said.

During re-examination, Hosseini explained that the first time he was pulled over for driving without a license, he was ticketed for failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. “Even that day I shouldn’t have been driving,” he said. “I was driving to babysit my granddad.”

Hossein’s lawyer, Mena Bastawrous, asked if the fact he was unlicensed had anything to do with him not stopping that night. “I didn’t think there was a reason to,” said Hosseini.

Closing submissions will be heard on Tuesday.

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