In the case involving Mark Duke, there are several established facts that are not in dispute. It is widely accepted that Duke’s grey Dodge Ram truck veered across the center line on Freshwater Road in St. John’s, resulting in the tragic death of 61-year-old pedestrian Hubert Noftall on August 7, 2024.
It is a unanimous view that Duke was under the influence of a cocktail of substances that morning, including cocaine, benzodiazepines, sleeping pills, and an animal tranquilizer. Despite the presence of the truck on multiple surveillance cameras capturing the incident, none of the footage showed the driver.
Prosecutor Robert Roach argues that the accumulation of circumstantial evidence strongly points towards Duke’s culpability. On the other hand, defense attorney Robert Hoskins contends that there are many unknowns in the evidence presented, including the identity of the person driving the truck at the time of the fatal accident.
The investigation revealed that Duke was not alone in his vehicle that morning. Surveillance footage from a gas station in Whitbourne depicted Duke refueling his truck alongside another individual from Placentia, who had prior interactions with law enforcement. However, investigators did not pursue questioning this passenger or another individual with a criminal history, whose debit card was found in the truck.
Witnesses observed a man and a woman exiting Duke’s truck on Brazil Street after the crash, with the man discarding pill bottles in a trash bin before driving away. Although the police recovered the pill bottles, they did not subject them to forensic analysis. Additionally, DNA evidence linking Duke to the truck was inconclusive as it was mixed with unidentified samples.
Prosecutor Roach maintains that the collective testimonies of eyewitnesses and security footage lead to the conclusion that Duke was the driver involved in the incident. Judge Lois Skanes is scheduled to deliver her verdict on September 14 before retiring at the end of the month.