Special prosecutor drops criminal negligence charges against Michael Bryant, Ontario’s former attorney general
One of Canada’s most high-profile lawyers will not face trial for fatally injuring a bike messenger while driving his sports car, Toronto prosecutors said yesterday.
The decision to drop charges against Michael Bryant, Ontario’s former attorney general, was greeted with howls of protest from cycling groups, who said it “sends the message that it’s OK to kill someone with your car”.
Bryant, who as attorney general championed draconian and controversial traffic safety laws, had been charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death after the Saab convertible he was driving collided with a courier’s bike last summer.
CCTV footage showed Bryant driving against oncoming traffic with Darcy Allan Sheppard clinging to the side of his car. The courier died of injuries after he struck a fire hydrant and fell from the car.
After the incident, cyclists were outraged and closed down major streets of Toronto in protest.
When Bryant was arrested, many doubted a resulting trial would be fair – “Listen, they could resurrect Gandhi to specially prosecute this case, but if the former attorney general prevails in his declaration of innocence, a sizable number of citizens will believe that the case was rigged,” said Judith Timson in the Globe and Mail last September.
But citing new evidence today, a special prosecutor dropped all charges. The prosecutor, Richard Peck, told the court that Sheppard had previously harassed and frightened motorists and that his blood alcohol level on the night he died was double that permitted for a driver. He also outlined what he said was Sheppard’s history of alcohol and drug addiction as well as prior legal skirmishes.
Cycling campaigners reacted with outrage. Yvonne Bambrick from the Toronto Cyclists Union said not putting Bryant on trial “sends the message that it’s OK to kill someone with your car”. “It’s just as much a weapon as a gun is,” she said. “Cyclists get a $110 [£72] ticket for not having a bell. Now he’s not even getting ticketed . “
Derek Chadbourne of Advocacy Respect Cyclists asked in the Toronto Sun what would have happened if Bryant wasn’t a “well-connected” former attorney general. “Perhaps things would have been different,” he said.
Full Article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/26/canada-michael-bryant-charges-toronto
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