Bryant a no-show in court again
Mess Media, January 23, 2010
The case against former Ontario attorney general, Michael Bryant continues to proceed slowly. Lawyers made a very brief appearance in court before Justice Paul Bentley on Friday.
Bryant’s lawyers and the crown failed to meet for a case management session so they will try to do it all again on March 5. They will meet privately with the Judge in the morning and court will reconvene in the afternoon for a public session.
Bryant is represented by Marie Henein. The prosecution will be led by an independent prosecutor from BC, Richard Peck.
Bryant has been charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death in relation to the death of cyclist Darcy Allan (AL) Sheppard after a traffic altercation on August 31, 2009.
Video evidence shows Bryant deliberately rammed his car into Sheppard from behind before attempting to flee the scene of the attack. Sheppard grabbed on to his car and Bryant fled with Sheppard attached.
Witnesses then say that Bryant sped away at about 90 km/hr on the wrong side of the road. He mounted the curb and intentionally drove into obstacles to knock Sheppard off his car. Sheppard died from the resulting multiple collisions.
Bryant Watch 
The terms being used – “case management”, “discovery issues” – while they may be legally accurate (I wouldn’t know) are disturbing. I’d call them weasel words. As we know perfectly well, anybody else would be sitting in jail right now. Are there any legal means to force a proper trial in a reasonable time frame? Justice delayed is truly justice denied, and we’re seeing this happening now.
Thank for these “Bryant Watch” articles. It is sadly appearing that we in Canada have a two tier justice system, and your articles are inperative to ensuring it does not get any more corupt as it now appears to be.
It is outrageous that Bryant has to date, NEVER appeared before a judge, let’s hope this case does not just get “dropped” because it took too long to hear.
Wonder how Mr. Sheppards family are doing?
Dan Robertson who was put in charge of Bryant’s PR at Navigator, is now with Harper’s PMO in Ottawa…no doubt creating his own unique brand of spin doctoring.
Interestingly, Jaime Watt, Navigator’s CEO, has been Twittering in the past asking everyone to keep Michael and his wife in their prayers, and the convicted fraudster is no doubt making sure Bryant and his Rosedale family are portrayed brilliantly by his friends in the press.
Not one mention about the death of bike courier, not one mention that whopping onto a sidewalk at almost double the posted speed limit is breaking the law – and will kill someone if in the wrong place…which he did.
Remember, Bryant is the man who stood up and tackled street racing…and now he is in the dock for worse.
Seems to me Bryant will not get a fair trail – i.e. everything in this instance will be loaded in his favour…
By the way, I wrote to West at Ogilvy’s asking him why he had hired Bryant…and there was of course on answer…
Bryant has many powerful friends, and even his treatment at the scene of Mr. Sheppard’s killing smacked of being preferential. Does anyone know if Bryant was breathalized or handcuffed ? Tim Burrows the Staff Sgt. of the TPS Traffic Unit appears not to know… which is surprizing as he was the senior officer on duty the night of the tragedy.
No protocol was carried out on Michael Bryant because he was a very close personal friend of Chief Blair. All it took was a call from him and he was handled with kid gloves.
A friend of mine was picked up at 4:00 a.m. by 5 police officers because someone had alleged assault. He was held over until 2 pm the next day in the cell at the station and went for a bail hearing. The courts were busy and by the time they got to the Surety, it was too late. He then was transferred to Millhaven, held over the weekend and was transported by paddy wagon to Court on the following Monday for his bail hearing. Bail was posted and he appeared 5 times in court to reset a court date. His bail conditions were so strict that if he even sneezed he would end up back in jail. Imagine what would have happened to him if he had killed someone in road rage.
“By the way, I wrote to West at Ogilvy’s asking him why he had hired Bryant…and there was of course on answer…”
It’s called the presumption of innocence.
A question and a comment. Do we know who was the Crown Attourney–was it Bryant–that imposed the domestic Assault protocal in Ontario and the zero tolerance in Durham Region (and perhaps other counties) where an adult female voice is heard on the phone and the adult male is considered guilty of DA and charged and evicted from house etc.?
Was Bryant part of this protocal establsihed approx. year 2000 in Ontario region(s)
Interesting how the posters here already have Bryant convicted (talk about a fair trial), while no mention is made of the fact that Shephard was in the bank of a cruiser a mere hour previous for being intoxicated and banging on his gir friends door. You think he might have been on an anger binge, taking it out on someone driving a shiny convertable with an attractive lady by his side?
Give me a break, I want to hear ALL of the evidence before making a call. The fact that he was charged at all tells me that he hasn’t been given preferential treatment. Anyone with the means to post bail would be free pending trial, as for the delays, seems to me it is the police holding things up waiting for forensic evidence. Any change the evidence coming out doesan’t support the claims by these “expert witnesses” on the street. Nice to know that they can tell how fast he was going (45 km per hour?), don’t think I could assess a vehicles speed that accurately.
You obviously haven’t been involved in any criminal cases. If he was any ordinary guy, he would have been thrown in jail and held over for a bail hearing the next day. As for Shephard being in the back of a cruiser, if he had been that bad, they would have thrown him in a drunk tank. Bryant had the option to stop his vehicle and call the police. Road rage is road rage. I met Michael Bryant in person, and believe me, he didn’t care about anyone but himself even in the Community meeting he was chairing. He was the Attorney General, he should have been treated the same as any other criminal. Doesn’t matter what you say….or how your say it…….HE KILLED A MAN.
Bryant has no issues with guilty before proven innocent. Ask responsible dog owners about that. Once someone goes after animals, it’s only a matter of time until they go after humans next.
Check out the video footage:
http://www.youtube.com/user/honestedits
Wow, ever heard of the slippery slope fallacy?
I wonder if our wonderful Justice system will turn this into another O.J.Simpson trial?
Does not look good for Canadian justice. I think these back room negotiations are nothing more than printing a get out of jail free card, go past go, and collect $200 Million for your troubles.
May these back room negotiations will be good for everyone else having to face the Judges. Remember that the Judges are forced to make decisions based on case law. Maybe this trial will then become case law and some poor individual that is falsely accused can be held over in jail and won’t have to have a bail hearing because this Bryant case will set a precedence. Who knows? But then, of course, I also believed in the Tooth Fairy!
It’s been 6 months now, that’s surely long enough for the legal and forensics people to get their act together. If the case is put over again, it’s time people were reminded of what happened and how it’s being allowed to fade away – there needs to be some pressure applied. How about a demo on Saturday? Anybody want to organise something, or should we just turn up at the ghost bike?
This whole Michael Bryant saga is a joke. It should be on Americas Funniest Videos. If you write to the ATtorney General and ask for comments, he’ll totally ignore you. Aren’t the taxpayers paying his salary and isn’t he obligated to respond? Our Judicial System is definitely two-tier. One for the common people and one for the bureaucrats. Why doesn’t he have to appear in Court? Everyone else does. It’s time the people of this Country fought for justice. We can’t always let everything pass. The Americans don’t. Maybe we should take some lessons from the Europeans. When they don’t agree, they show it.
Well his new court date comes up next month April 14th I believe. All disclosure has been made. This court date might be the one to attend.