Ex-Ontario AG Is Cleared in Fatal Accident
A criminal case was dropped today against a former Ontario attorney general who was initially charged with criminal negligence after a violent traffic confrontation ended in the death of a bicyclist last year.
A special prosecutor brought from outside the Canadian province said in court today that the bicyclist, Darcy Allan Sheppard, was the aggressor in the August 31 incident, reports the Gazette.
It still isn’t clear from news accounts exactly what prompted the 33-year-old Sheppard, who reportedly had been drinking heavily, to approach and cling to the open-topped convertible in which Michael Bryant, 44, and his wife were riding, with him at the wheel.
At a news conference following his exoneration, Bryant said that he was terrified by the encounter. “I wish none of it had happened. It was a terrible tragedy,” he said after special prosecutor Richard Peck withdrew the charges in the Ontario Court of Justice. “We are all diminished by any loss of life.”
Derek Chadbourne, who owns the Bike Joint bicycle shop in Toronto, contends that police obtained camera footage showing Bryant striking Sheppard from behind in a high-end shopping district before he approached their vehicle, reports Bloomberg.
Sheppard reportedly clung to the vehicle as it drove off before falling onto the roadway and fatally striking his head, according to the Gazette.
Bryant now works for the Ogilvy Renault law firm in Toronto and says he has no plans to return to government.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-Ontario AG Charged in Fatal Accident; Victim Reportedly Clung to Car”
National Post (opinion): “Former AG Michael Bryant walks: Kuitenbrouwer’s take”
