# Fatal hit-and-run - passenger got arrested **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517 "2021-01-02T12:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517/61 "2022-03-05T03:48:33Z")
One of the witnesses who was called was the driver of the car which actually struck Sgt Harnett. > [@](#): > > A driver who accidentally ran over a Calgary police officer broke down in tears at a first-degree murder trial Tuesday. > … > Mackson Ogunsanya testified he was driving that night when he saw a speeding SUV and something else coming toward him. > > “I saw a black object. At first, I thought they threw something toward me. Then I thought I hit the object,” he told the court. > > Ogunsanya said he immediately stopped his car. > > “That’s when I realized I had hit a cop. I was shaking. How could this happen? I have no idea,” he said. > > Ogunsanya broke down during his testimony. > > He said he managed to dial 911 but two police officers showed up. One was on a phone calling an ambulance and the other was attending to Harnett. The accident reconstruction expert testified that in his opinion, Ogunsanya could not have stopped in time to avoid hitting Sgt Harnett. > **[Driver who accidentally struck falling Calgary Sgt. Andrew Harnett testifies...](https://globalnews.ca/news/8586278/calgary-police-andrew-harnett-hit-and-run-youth-murder-trial/)** > > A driver who accidentally ran over a Calgary police officer broke down in tears at a first-degree murder trial Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517/62 "2024-12-13T05:13:46Z")
This is a bit odd. The trial of the young driver in this case began in January 2022. Then it dropped off the news media. He was convicted of manslaughter, apparently in 2023. Nothing in the news accounts explain why the trial took so long. Although he was under 18 at the time of the event, the trial judge declined to sentence him as a youth and instead gave him a 12 year adult sentence. > **[Youth who dragged Calgary police officer Andrew Harnett to his death handed...](https://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/youth-who-dragged-calgary-police-officer-andrew-harnett-to-his-death-handed-12-year-prison-term#:~:text=year%2520prison%2520term-,Youth%2520who%2520dragged%2520Calgary%2520police%2520officer%2520Andrew%2520Harnett%2520to,handed%252012%252Dyear%2520prison%2520term&text=Dragging%2520an%2520%E2%80%9Cexemplary%2520and%2520decorated,a%252012%252Dyear%2520prison%2520term)** > > Dragging a Calgary police officer to his death during a New Year's Eve traffic stop has landed a man a 12-year prison term. > **[Teen driver who killed Calgary police officer can now be identified | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7013010)** > > The Calgary teenage driver who killed Sgt. Andrew Harnett can now be identified. He is Al Azan Shah Muhammad, and according to his passenger, the motive to flee the traffic stop was because there were drugs in the vehicle that Muhammed feared would... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517/63 "2024-12-13T11:51:10Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Although he was under 18 at the time of the event, the trial judge declined to sentence him as a youth and instead gave him a 12 year adult sentence. I know nothing of Canadian practice, but that’s real common down here in Show-no-mercy Land. When it comes to kids over about age 12, the protections of the youth justice system are seen as something that should be applied only to “good” kids who made a one-time youthful/stupid spur of the moment bad decision. Anyone showing signs of making a habit of bad decisions has “earned” the right to be treated as an adult. IOW, that wasn’t a dumb mistake; that was part of a pattern of criminally motivated behavior, whether or not the specific incident was pre-planned as a crime. I’m not lauding this approach. Merely explaining it. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517/64 "2024-12-13T13:06:17Z")
Here it is almost 4 years later, and the trial is still ongoing? I thought the charges get dropped automatically if it takes more than 30 months under the “speedy trial” constitutional right. I assume this means the judge is blaming the defense for most of the delay? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517/65 "2024-12-13T17:07:16Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I know nothing of Canadian practice, but that’s real common down here in Show-no-mercy Land. This was unusual facts. The guy was about 2 weeks shy of his 18th birthday at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517/66 "2024-12-13T17:12:41Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Here it is almost 4 years later, and the trial is still ongoing? It’s odd and I’ve not found an explanation online. The events happened New Year’s Eve, 2020-2021. The trial started one year later, in January 2022, which is within the constitutional requirement. There were a few media stories on the trial, and then it just disappeared. I tried to follow it after it started and there was just this silence. It looks like he got convicted in April 2023, but no explanation that I’ve been able to find for the long gap. Then he got sentenced in September 2023 and did not appeal. So it’s been over for a year. I just happened to remember it and searched for an update. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517/67 "2024-12-14T14:22:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > Although he was under 18 at the time of the event, the trial judge declined to sentence him as a youth and instead gave him a 12 year adult sentence. > > I know nothing of Canadian practice, but that’s real common down here in Show-no-mercy Land. > > When it comes to kids over about age 12, the protections of the youth justice system are seen as something that should be applied only to “good” kids who made a one-time youthful/stupid spur of the moment bad decision. Anyone showing signs of making a habit of bad decisions has “earned” the right to be treated as an adult. IOW, that wasn’t a dumb mistake; that was part of a pattern of criminally motivated behavior, whether or not the specific incident was pre-planned as a crime. > > I’m not lauding this approach. Merely explaining it. Cite for “it’s common” please. Not my experience at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatal-hit-and-run-passenger-got-arrested/929517.md?page=3)