本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Witness statements and forensic testing including frame-by-frame video analysis, revealed that Mr. Sheppard, 33, had a history of picking fights with motorists, including one just hours before he rode his bike past Mr. Bryant and his wife, Susan Abramovitch, and cut them off as they drove home from an anniversary outing.
Witnesses said Mr. Sheppard, who was drunk according to toxicology tests, “loudly and aggressively confronted Mr. Bryant while he and his wife remained passive,” prosecutor Richard Peck, brought in from British Columbia due to Mr. Bryant’s past cabinet role, told court.
In a panicked bid to get away, Mr. Bryant stalled his standard-shift Saab several times, and it lurched forward and struck Mr. Sheppard, causing him to land on the hood. He fell off when the car stopped a short distance ahead, then stood up and was “clearly not seriously injured at that time,” Mr. Peck said, citing security-camera footage.
When Mr. Bryant reversed and then moved forward, turning to get around the fallen bicycle, Mr. Sheppard threw his backpack at the car, “then jumped onto the vehicle as it drove away,” the prosecutor said. Witness statements and forensic tests “suggest that Mr. Sheppard was attempting to enter the vehicle and attack Mr. Bryant at this time.”
As the vehicle headed west in the oncoming lane, witnesses thought it reached speeds of 60 to 100 kilometres an hour, but expert analysis by the Crown and defence found the car’s average speed was about 34 km/h, and “it appears that the vehicle never left first gear,” Mr. Peck said. Tests also showed the car “did not rub against the curb or mount the curb at any time,” contrary to accounts that Mr. Bryant had mounted the sidewalk.
As the car passed a fire hydrant one foot in from the south curb, Mr. Sheppard’s left side struck it. He fell from the car, struck his head and died, the prosecutor said. Mr. Bryant, meanwhile, turned at the next intersection, stopped at the Hyatt hotel, called 911 and waited for police.
“In the circumstances, there is no reasonable prospect of establishing that the driving (albeit contributing to Mr. Sheppard’s death) constituted a marked departure from the standards of a reasonable, prudent driver faced with the exceptional circumstances presented here,” Mr. Peck said, adding that Mr. Bryant’s explanation - that he drove off because he was terrified of Mr. Sheppard and in a state of panic - was supported by the independent evidence.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net