So, I am not a lawyer, a lawyer’s son, nor do I play a lawyer on television. I also do not have all the facts of the case before me, and my understanding of the Criminal Code of Canada is largely derived from Wikipedia.
My great doubt is based on whether it can be said to be ‘negligent’ to drive up on the curb on the wrong side of the road at or above the posted speed limit. Whether that shows intent to kill, or just intent to cause bodily harm, I think the only option along this line of defense would be to claim that the victim had caused the driver to lose control of the car.
Bottom line - I think they’ve settled for a charge they know will stick, despite the pathetically small sentence. Perhaps it’s even a set of charges to which he will plead guilty - but I can’t help thinking that if it were a nobody bike courier who had killed a flashy politician, we’d be looking at a different set of charges, and that’s what I think stinks about this.
I also don’t think pulling into the driveway of a hotel around the corner constitutes ‘remaining at the scene of an accident’, either.
One more bit of grist for the mill - Bryant is a trained boxer.
from an earlier article from the Globe and Mail. I’m sure at the moment he’s wishing he’d stop the car and punched him out instead. It’s going to be hard to say he had no other recourse than to use his car as a weapon.
You’re right, I read that about the top being down after I posted. Also, it seems from the article, that the courier was on foot during the time when the ‘dragging’ was taking place. So perhaps Bryant overreacted - trying to get away from a man trying to get into the car with him and his wife.
There seem to be conflicting reports about the victim being intoxicated, but police saying at the time of the accident he was not (but that may also be the media misunderstanding "alcohol was not involved - meaning the driver wasn’t intoxicated). Everyone will have to wait until lab results come back to verify that one way or the other.
Presently, the victim’s ex-girlfriend is complaining she told the cops he was too drunk to ride home, but they still sent him riding off (WTF?). If in fact the victim was in a state of drunken road rage, a reasonable case of self-defense may be the reason Bryant was charged with criminal negligence causing death rather than one of the flavors of homicide. If my fiancee was in a convertible next to me and I reasonably thought some raging guy was trying to attack at us, I might stomp on the accelerator too, trying to flee (if it was just me in the car, probably not).
But dragging the guy 100 metres and swerving to the opposite side of the road trying to scrape him off on trees, fire hydrants, and poles sounds pretty damn aggressive - more like road rage than fear. There were a lot of video cameras that recorded the event, and I would assume the charges will be amended once police have a chance to comb through the footage.
He was already on Bloor Street near Bay Street. The altercation took place at a very busy section of town with gobs of pedestrian traffic. Day or night, there are tons of people around to intervene. That’s why there are so many witnesses.
IMHO, if there is video footage of the actual altercation, it will be key to whether or not more severe charges are laid or key to Bryant’s defence.
Presently, it looks like there was a collision followed by:
"Fuck you!
“No! Fuck you!”
“Your momma!”
“No, your momma!”
“Your momma times infinity! Called it! Stamped it! No erasies!”
Then Bryant peeled out of there. Technically at that point he was “fleeing the scene”. The cyclist gave chase and grabbed the door handle. It is unknown whether he was attacking them or trying to prevent Bryant from fleeing the scene. Dragging, smeering, and death ensued.
If the video shows the cyclist attacking or being obviously threatening before Bryant peeled off, his defence will be stronger. If however, it was all just verbal hissy fits until Bryant drove off, that will look bad. Either way “fleeing” and enraged guy, is quite different than trying to smash him against mail boxes as you drag him a few blocks. I have a hard time believing he still felt threatened by the cyclist as the guy was hanging on for dear life.
Edit: Tangentally, I am vaguely acquainted with Bryant’s wife and the passenger during the altercation. She is a major entertainment lawyer here and the record label I worked for was her client. I never met her in person, but she would often have one of her associates double check contracts I drafted.
Not necessarily. It may have been that the Premier saw him as a potential rival. Some of the articles I’ve read have made me think that Bryant might have been taking some time out, and wait until McGuinty moved on. Bryant is only 43.
There’s not much difference between the offences of crim neg causing death and manslaughter. Both carry potential life sentences, and neither one has intention to cause death as an element. And, both are a form of homicide under the Criminal Code, s. 222(5).
If you hit someone with a baseball bat and the person dies, that’s not enough in itself to support a murder conviction - the Crown has to prove an intention to cause death, or serious enough recklessness that death might ensure, to support a murder charge. If the Crown can’t prove that intention, the more likely charge would be murder.
As for the “dangerous operation” charge - that’s a lesser offence, likely included by the police in case the crim neg charge doesn’t stick.
Northern Piper - My apologies, I have been mis-lead by some bad reporting (which I can no longer find - I hope that means that it has been corrected.) that claimed his charges would carry a maximum sentence of 3 years. I now realize that even his charge of criminal negligence carries a potential life sentence. Ignorance fought.
You may have seen an article that interviewed a few lawyers about defense strategies. The article ended with: “If convicted, Bryant could receive a sentence of about two years.” It was not stated, but implied that they were quoting one of the lawyer’s opinions.
There is a new article out on this case from NJN Network
Now that Bryant’s PR team has had its turn trying to paint Sheppard as a psychotic drunk on the edge of a suicide binge, some interesting details are to be noted:
The article more importantly notes that the police investigation seems to be going out of its way to not find any evidence that maybe it was Bryant doing more drinking.
This case is a picture perfect example of why you need to wait for all the facts to be in to make a judgment. It’s turned the whole city and much of the country into warring camps over a variety of issues.
I question the professionalism and intelligence of whomever wrote the NJN article. Look at this:
17 degrees hardly necessitates having your car’s heater down, and anyone who thinks it’s unsafe to drive around Toronto in a convertible has either never been in Toronto or is a moron. The article also makes statements presented as fact that are merely opinion and is clearly out to get Bryant.
Not that I’m defending Bryant, and you can find a lot of retards to’ll be quick to say Sheppard deserved it, let’s crucify all bicycle couriers, blah blah blah. But I’d advise one and all to assume everything you hear about this is biased.
The part about “…that night in that neighborhood…”
You mean Yorkville? Yes, a frightening neighborhood! You never know who is crouching in the doorway to the Gucci boutique! And have you seen the kind of people who hang out over in the Prada shop??? Once when I was minding my own business, trying to get to Sassafrass to see if Renee Zellweger was there yet again, this woman came out of the Chanel store, and… ::quivering in fear:: her freshly coiffed purse-poodle snarled at me! :eek:
I’m not so concerned about that as I am the point that we had huge amounts of Sheppard’s personal life blasted in the media (“He was the son of an alcoholic mother! He was drinking earlier in the day!”) in a rather cynical attempt to mitigate the death as almost being some kind of suicide by driver. Yet as some point out, Sheppard’s own drinking habits during dinner have not been investigated.
…and anyone who’s walked into Holt’s lately will tell you that their prices are tantamount to robbery. A month’s rent for a dress made from less than a yard of fabric? Thievery, I say!
You meant “Bryant’s” in the sentence above a presume (to point out the contrast to reporting of Sheppard).
Police have said alcohol was not a factor in the incident. Presumably that means Bryant was not DUI at the time. The Toronto Star wrote an entire article about what they had to eat and made no mention of alcohol, just iced tea.
