And Justice For All…

In 2009 Michael Bryant, the former Attorney General of Ontario, was involved in a traffic incident where his car caused the death of Toronto bike courier Darcy Allan Sheppard. Bryant was charged with Criminal Negligence Causing Death and Dangerous Driving Causing Death 24 hours later. After almost a year Special Prosecutor Richard Peck, who was brought in from BC to handle this matter, concluded that “there was no reasonable prospect of conviction” and asked that the charges against Bryant be withdrawn. In the days following the withdrawal a vigorous and heated public debate occurred which focussed on whether Bryant received favourable treatment by the justice system and whether he quite literally got away with murder. This piece, written by former criminal lawyer Marshall Golden, became part of that debate and examines the outrage and the issue of whether what happened was a denial of due process or a proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion.