The BMW that ploughed into Pelin Kaya as she walked in Gżira last January was being driven at 75km/h and the driver was not applying the brakes, a court was told on Tuesday.
Details about that moment of impact emerged during the testimony of court expert Mario Buttigieg who was appointed to the magisterial inquiry into the incident in which the woman, who had just turned 30, was killed.
Kaya, a Turkish interior designer, had been on her way to meet her boyfriend after celebrating her birthday with friends.
On that January 18 night she was walking in front of the Paul and Rocco service station when the BMW S6 driven by Jeremie Camilleri, veered sideways, hitting her and the petrol station before crashing into a fast food restaurant.
During previous sittings, the court heard how Camilleri drove his car directly at the pedestrian before hitting the petrol station and then crashing into the KFC outlet.
Footage had captured the moment of impact as well as the driver getting out and flinging stones at the victim as she lay on the pavement, motionless. An emergency consultant testified previously that the woman was unconscious and that her heart was not beating.
Camilleri is pleading not guilty to wilful homicide and a raft of other charges.
A digital forensic expert also testified last week about an audio clip presented to the inquiring magistrate by Camilleri's former partner in which he appeared to have hinted at his fatal plan.
On Tuesday, the court heard how data downloaded from the crashed BMW showed that the vehicle’s airbags had inflated at 75 km/hour when the car hit the low boundary wall at the petrol station.
But prior to that impact, the driver had hit the victim who was walking along the pavement.
The BMW boarded the pavement at the same velocity, said the traffic expert, explaining how he had reached that conclusion.
Taking into account the position of the victim and the distance over which she had been flung, the expert explained that the velocity was the same as that at the moment when the airbags opened.
The expert had used the Searle formula to calculate that measurement and had also run a diagnostic test on data from the BMW system.
The results indicated that the driver did not apply the brakes.
The crashed vehicle was subsequently checked by technicians at the car dealer. Those checks showed nothing defective, testified the expert.
“Not even to the brakes system?”asked the court, presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello.
“All was well,” replied the expert.
The car was due for service but no failure had been detected, the witness explained as he ended his testimony.
The case continues.
AG lawyers Kaylie Bonnett and Nathaniel Falzon are prosecuting together with Inspector Kurt Zahra.
Lawyers Alfred Abela and Rene’ Darmanin are defence counsel.
Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi, Charlon Gouder and Ramona Attard appeared parte civile.