A magistrate has been left "deeply suspicious" as to whether witnesses told the truth about a crash on Mount Ainslie, finding a young woman had at least run over the victim's foot.
The 19-year-old, who cannot be named due to a non-publication order imposed by the ACT Magistrates Court, was found not guilty on Tuesday of negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm but guilty of failing to stop and give assistance.
In June last year, the woman honked at the victim's car because it was in her way.
The victim responded by approaching the woman and her friend, banging his fists on the passenger window of her vehicle.
The woman drove away and the victim was later found by his girlfriend at the time with significant injuries to his body.
Prosecutor Morgan Howe argued text messages between the woman and a passenger in the car later that night were "essentially an admission" because the driver said she "drove straight and just left".
Mr Howe also argued while the injured victim had been assisted, the woman did not know at the time if he would have received care and ultimately "when you drive a car, you have responsibilities".
Defence barrister Kieran Ginges argued the lack of forensic evidence meant "we simply don't know what has happened" and there was no way to know if the woman had run over the victim and caused his injuries.
Mr Ginges said the case was capable of "covering a number of broad circumstances" to how the victim obtained his injuries, including the possibility he fell or that another vehicle hit him later.
In relation to the charge of failing to stop and provide support to the victim, Mr Ginges said his client at most believed she had run over the victim's foot and did not think he had been critically injured.
Magistrate James Stewart disagreed with this point, finding "the driver knew at a bare minimum she'd injured [the victim's] foot and failed to stop in those circumstances".
Mr Stewart pointed to a text the woman had sent her passenger later that night, when she wrote: "Trust me then, it was his feet".
He also expressed scepticism about the truthfulness of evidence given in court by witnesses when their testimony was compared to text messages.
"I'm deeply suspicious that these messages don't go anywhere near the evidence," Mr Stewart said.
The woman will next appear in court for sentencing or a mental health dismissal application in December.
