[Robair]

Anybody who has ever been attacked through the window of the car, or done any attacking through the window of a car, knows the driver has no defense. None whatsoever. You can't square your shoulders up to your opponent, the only punch you can manage is a left-handed awkward goofy hammer punch. And you have nowhere to go (if your car is immobile). The ONLY defense is to drive away.

And what kind of phsyco gets angry enough to hang off the side of a moving car? This is what I was getting at when I said sounds like there is more to the story.

[Regina]

Think he was driving a rag top which would also make it easier to hop in behind the belted in driver. There's definitely more to the story although no one should have died here.

[Benn]

martin14 martin14:

fine upstanding citizen we got here..

wonder what the 61 warrants were for...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/courier-had-history-with-police/article1272876/

$1:

The warrants related to allegations that Mr. Sheppard forged checks and cashed them at Money Marts in Alberta, Edmonton police said.

"He was the subject of a substantive fraud, uttering forged documents, stolen property file," said Staff Sergeant Bill Allan of the Edmonton Police Service. "What this guy was doing was he was going to Money Mart and he was cashing cheques for like $98 to himself."

In 2003, he was released on bail and soon afterward failed to make a scheduled court appearance, Staff Sgt. Allan said.

$1:

Mr. Sheppard moved to Toronto to pursue stand-up comedy and be closer to his four children, two daughters and two sons, according to his half-brother, who is serving a four-year sentence for drug trafficking in Winnipeg.

$1:

The night he was killed in a collision that is alleged to have involved former Ontario attorney-general Michael Bryant, the 33-year-old bike messenger was in a confrontation with police,

Hard to imagine this guy being aggressive and not an upright citizen? Good luck finding a jury of 12 people who'll feel he was not at least partly responsible for what happened, not to mention 12 who would not also be thinking "heck I'd be scared and take off as well!"

I can't see Bryant getting convicted on what he's charged with. Easy self defense "I was scared and ran" defense. Onus is on the crown to prove he had intent to cause him bodily harm, never the less kill him! Good luck with that! lol

[TattoodGirl]

Benn Benn:

I can't see Bryant getting convicted on what he's charged with. Easy self defense "I was scared and ran" defense. Onus is on the crown to prove he had intent to cause him bodily harm, never the less kill him! Good luck with that! lol

Pretty much...You do whatever it takes to defend yourself...too bad someone had to die though.

[EyeBrock]

There's no onus or mens rea in 'crim neg cause death'. It's a complicated offence with several points to prove.

Crim neg is defined as:

Every one is criminally negligent who

(a) in doing anything, or

(b) in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do,

shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.

Then the offences are crim neg cause bodily harm, crim neg cause death.

This will be a hard charge to get a conviction on and a jury will likely be more sympathetic to the ex AG than a dead cyclist with a dodgy background.

[martin14]

yes EB, a prosecutor could try to argue reckless disregard, but...

you cant attack him.

you cant really defend yourself.. re Robairs post.

I'm guessing bike was on driver's side, preventing Bryant
from leaving the car, while seatbelted.

It only leaves driving away as a measure of escape,
after that, just a tragic accident.

Trot out the cyclists crim record,
police report from earlier, other statements
about the boy's character,
then toss in Bryant being mr. perfect.....

Can't see it moving forward, unless some vid pops up.

[Benn]

Yes, sorry, your right about the onus or Mens Rea since its a negligence charge. But like you said, good luck getting a jury to convict. I'm sure he's got more than a decent lawyer. Stack the jury with mothers with small kids and grannies and paint a nice picture of a crazy abusive guy with no regard for the law climbing into their car window. Forget letter of the law, I'd be shocked if no juror voted on emotion in this case.

IMO Bryant showed bad judgement and certainly need some blame. This was not a guy at night with a weapon trying to car jack him on an empty street. In fleeing to avoid a black eye he killed someone. However the victim showed bad judgment jumping into the car in turning it into a physical confrontation.

[EyeBrock]

martin14 martin14:

yes EB, a prosecutor could try to argue reckless disregard, but...

you cant attack him.

you cant really defend yourself.. re Robairs post.

I'm guessing bike was on driver's side, preventing Bryant
from leaving the car, while seatbelted.

It only leaves driving away as a measure of escape,
after that, just a tragic accident.

Trot out the cyclists crim record,
police report from earlier, other statements
about the boy's character,
then toss in Bryant being mr. perfect.....

Can't see it moving forward, unless some vid pops up.

I agree with both you and Benn. I can't see a jury convicting this guy already and this is only day 2 or 3 of the investigation. There certainly has been a lot of negative, albeit true, background stuff released by Police and in the media very quickly about the victim. It's bit different.

His career is over though.

[BeaverFever]

I saw another eye-witness on the news today claim that the cyclist threw his bike at Bryant's car and that Bryant initially reversed away before the cyclist punched him and was "holding onto his face" as Bryant sped forward. An initial report also said there was a construction crew at work in the right lane which would help Bryan'ts lawyers explain the sudden swerve to the opposite side of the road.

Some of the survelillance video footage is in this news report:

http://citynews.video.citytv.com/video/36552772001/Bryant-Facing-Serious-Charges-After-Cyclist-Killed/

edit: corrected wrong link

[martin14]

uhhh, sorry BF, check that link pls.. no footage.

[martin14]

martin14 martin14:

uhhh, sorry BF, check that link pls.. no footage.

oh u fixed it...

[BeaverFever]

lol..knew someone would catch it before I could fix it! There's a flashplayer vid that takes a second to load right below the headline

[BartSimpson]

gonavy47 gonavy47:

What started out being an accident, ended up being manslaughter. Throw the book at him!

This was actually on our local news today.

[EyeBrock]

Now we can add cyclists as the latest protest group who can block roads in Ontario without any police action.
Tamils.....Natives....couriers. It's just the law abiding public that are the focus of Toronto police.

[ASLplease]

Now we can add dragging an angry bicyclist to their death to a large list of things a motorist is allowed to do to a bicyclist


Ask any cop or motorist if it is safe to pass a motorcycle while sharing the same lane( dear idiots, it isn't safe and it isn't legal)...

...yet the law says its legal to do it to a bicycle. And, most motorists don't even have the sense to give the bicycle a few feet of safety buffer.