http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1144484.html
I‚m usually the first to say we can‚t go creating laws over a single incident but when Nova Scotian prosecutors walk away from a challenge not allowing the „spirit of the law‰ to prevail in this part of Canada I‚m left to conclude there‚s something SERIOUSLY WRONG in Nova Scotia. I‚m beginning to understand the hate that spews from the pores of the common people here.
There may not have been criminal intent when the driver took Jacob‚s life but there was certainly negligence at work that caused his death. His killer was charged with „driving to the left of a solid double line‰ and not „vehicular manslaughter.‰
So, how do you like living in a land where justice must be sought by facebook groups, petitions, victims and expensive lawyers hired by common citizens? Oh, they can`t afford justice, I see.
What a fucking hole.
—kay
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2009.
Copy and paste from MS word result in strange characters, indeed.
That fucking sucks.
Like this never happens in any other province. Yeah right. It’s the same Criminal Code across the country. Is it right? Probably not but that’s the same EVERYWHERE.
I’m not sure if “vehicular manslaughter” is Criminal Code or if it’s Traffic Act but it certainly takes a Nova Scotian prosecutor lock up evil squeegee kids while setting KILLERS free.
Crossing the yellow line, seriously, the article also specifically mentions the speed he was travelling and no speeding ticket?
That aside, the man has to live with this for the rest of his life, charges or no charges.
Isn’t it up to the judge to decide if the prosecutor proves the charges beyond a reasonable doubt? Can’t you lay multiple charges?
However, based on the story, I can see how this is really just an unfortunate accident and not necessarily a heinous crime. I don’t know if I think the driver deserves to be strung up or even jail time, but certain $169 is not justice either. Even just trying the driver for a more severe crime would send the message that the province takes the driver’s bad behaviour seriously.
I’m sorry, if you kill somebody with your car I would think your driving privileges at the very least, that is, your “privilege” to operate a DEADLY WEAPON on public highways, ought to become a SERIOUS question.
WHO SPEEDS DOWN THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD? ALL of our lives are at risk if this is going to be the precedent for KILLING somebody with your car while driving like an ASSHOLE!
Am I ever mad no traffic judge and no criminal judge, no judge at all, will ever be asked to rule on this wrongful death because some prosecutor in the HRM doesn’t have any balls nor real public safety interest. But keep the dam squeegee kids off the road. Yeah, that’s worth makin’ laws for! fuck
KUDOS to Kay. Said it all.
WOW! Will wonders never cease? I actually agree with Kay here! Did I wake up in another dimension this morning?? WAIT! I know, I have a headache right now ’cause I haven’t had enough coffee yet. Yeah, that’s gotta be it. No other explanation.
What’s wrong with charging the driver with “involuntary manslaughter” –
“Involuntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought. It is distinguished from voluntary manslaughter by the absence of intention. It is normally divided into two categories; constructive manslaughter and criminally negligent manslaughter.”
Well a lot of information is missing from the Herald story. All we know is the driver was left of center travelling at 102 in a 90 zone. Very few people would be ticketed at that speed (rightly or wrongly that’s real life. They don’t mention where the boys were walking. Were they on the shoulder or on the roadway. That would factor into charges. The court hears more evidence than is mentioned by the media.
This is what is wrong with the media. They give few facts or leave pertinent facts out. They name the accused and depending on the nature of the case give a huge write up. Yet if the accused is acquitted, the acquittal is usually hidden in a corner in the back of the paper, if mentioned at all. If you’re going to report then report it all.
Was there enough for a manslaughter charge? Without more information, I have no idea.
When you kill somebody by accident isn’t it manslaughter? You’re right about the speed but we DO know had the car had been on its own side of the double line the child would be breathing today… and we’d be bitching about perfume on buses instead.
kay, killing someone by accident is not always manslaughter or death by negligence. This is why deaths like this are investigated to determine if any laws are broken.
But do we know where the child was walking? On the shoulder or the roadway? In fact the positioning of the child could have determined what the charges were.
kay for example, if you’re driving down the street, doing the speed limit on your side of the road and your vehicleis in perfect order and a person (adult or child) runs between parked vehicles right in front of you and get killed, there would be no charges. Therefore accidental death does not equate manslaughter.
Bro Tim. We KNOW the law was broken. Traffic law. Summary judgment.
[dead kid] + [crossing the double line in your car] – [justice] = $169
I’m so miffed.
Bro, he WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. your little scenario means nothing to this discussion, sorry…
The Gov’t won’t do anything about traffic laws until one of their own kids is mangled or killed. Otherwise drunk drivers and these assholes driving like maniacs would be jailed, not lectured.
There are so many gaping facts left untold by this story, but I will venture an educated guess as to why there was no Manslaughter charge….The absence of criminal negligence, which is a key component to Manslaughter. and No, taking your eyes off the road for two seconds doesn’t make you an automatic “negligent driver”.
The guy was speeding, but lets be honest. 102km/h in a 90km/h isn’t exactly pedal to the metal here.
This was a terrible and tragic accident, being out for blood and wanting to make the other person “pay” is part of the grief process. The guy wasn’t drunk, wasn’t doing an insane break-neck speed, and probably just wasn’t paying close enough attention for those EXACT 2 seconds he should have been. That doesn’t mean he is guilty of a criminal act, just a terribly tragic one.
This is a good example of how “justice” and “The Law” are often two different things.
Kay: “WHO SPEEDS DOWN THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD? ALL of our lives are at risk if this is going to be the precedent for KILLING somebody with your car while driving like an ASSHOLE”
Kay, you make it sound like the guy was racing in the wrong lane. What probably happened is what happens a lot on those highways. Hwy 10, 11, 12, etd are very windy and lots of drivers who know those roads will do 100 on them and sometimes cross the yellow line on the curves to keep their speed up.On a blind turn this is a foolhardy maneuver for obvious reasons, but it happens. A totally preventable accident if the driver has just followed the rules of the road and I’m sure the driver will be burdened with this for the rest of his life.
How can you be sure, Miles? The $169 fine is going to put a dent in the budget? I doubt it.
lovinglife, I dare say taking your eyes off the road for even two seconds while driving on the wrong side is very VERY negligent on the part of the driver. It hardly matters how lax the locals feel about certain highways. Nobody’s calling the driver a criminal or screaming for blood. A $169 fine and no lecture and no judge is what’s being screamed here. Again:
[dead kid] + [crossing the double line in your car] – [justice] = $169
Isn’t that just pathetic? (buzz word of the day)
Be sure about what? The burden? I can’t. I also think that a $169 fine for being on the wrong side of the road and killing someone is pathetic. But I don’t think the driver is necessarily a villain and until we hear what he has to say for himself, I’ll withhold judgement.
What do you think is fair here Kay? Regardless of the charges, what punishment do you think fits the “crime”?
Miles, I think he should have to defend his ‘right’ to drive after killing someone with his car as a result of breaking the rules! You’re NEVER going to hear his side of the story unless he ponies up to the press because there is NO court action thanks to our ingenious Crown prosecutor! None, not a word. And that’s what this bitch is all about.
NGF….it sure beats reruns of Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels!!!!
ooo ya bastard. That’s so not true. Let’s not slag the dead, okay? I won’t go that far to fuck with your head today even though it is the weekend.
Nice attempt at damage-control, kaytard.
I wasn’t the one driving the car, Fatty-Fat-Fat.
Well having read the actual paper, it appears the young man and his friends crossed the road (on a curve) and somehow his sneaker came off and he went back to get it and he was hit. So it seems to be a tragedy where a life was lost. There was no element of criminal negligence. The car should not have been on the wrong side of the road and the young man should never have been on the roadway.
Bro, nobody is crying ‘criminal’ anything! Don’t you get that? The car should not have been on the wrong side of the road, you’re absolutely right about that much but the driver knew that too! We know the driver knew that because he was licensed to drive. There is no license to walk nor training or is there even a reasonable expectation of such from a kid, slow old lady or any pedestrian, really.
I’m mad because if I killed someone with my car DOING A STUPID THING with it, as a licensed driver, I would EXPECT something more for the families of my victims. I hope the insurance pays to the max! To the max, dammit!
How is this so different from a botched surgery or some other didn’t-mean-to kind of too-bad-you’re-dead accident while wielding registered “deadly weapons”?
$169 just doesn’t cut it. If this driver comes forward and donates his time/energy/resources to something that would raise awareness of how senseless this tragedy is, I’ll shut up, I promise, but the court demanded only $169 summary conviction that goes to line government coffers. Nothing for the victims, not even a formal acknowledgment of what he “didn’t mean to do” to Jacob and his family!
Imagine if Jacob had been Mennonite and had no use for the deadly machine that killed him… and what if there was no liability insurance for his family’s loss? Just sayin’ because I think the wide view is important when talking of policy and law and real life tragedy. I’m just so sad…
You got the sad part down, kay….
You’re such a typical Nova Scotian, Fat. That’s sad too.
And you’re a typical Albertan; a simple tragedy.
Would it surprise you to know I’m an Ontarian? (ahhhhh let the shit fly) I’ve lived in many cities and towns in Canada. But yes, in Calgary Jacob would likely have had a footpath or sidewalk to walk on.
I’m just visiting this fair planet.
And what of the kid’s responsibility? If he wasn’t in the road he wouldn’t have been hit. They were both doing wrong things which resulted in tragedy.
kay what fucking highways in Alberta or anywhere else have sidewalks. And even if they did, the unfortunate young man was on the road, not on the side of it.
kay since you didn’t attend court and the media did a half assed job of reporting, you have no idea if an apology was given or not.
Unfortunately when people do stupid things bad things happen.
Had the licensed driver had been following the rules would Jacob would still be alive today? If Jacob had been a slow old lady would you still think the driver can break the rules, kill her and walk away with only a $169 fine? Why does Jacob need to be responsible for the rules of the road as a pedestrian and a child? Imagine yourself a parent before you answer that one. Maybe Jacob knew enough that cars are to drive on the OTHER side of the double line. This bitch would read SO much different had Jacob been on his bike, struck and killed by a car driving on the wrong side of the road.
There was and will be no court to attend over this matter. Again, Tim, this is the ENTIRE reason for the bitch. Reserve your judgment indefinitely just like the Crown Prosecutor did in this case for there will be no justice for Jacob short of this bitch thread.
Jacob was 17 not 7 you twit. But at least I understand your problem kay. It’s that Ontario-Alberta connection. The reason for pedestrians and drivers need to know the rules of the road is to try to prevent tragedies like this.
Another legal-related bitch and by the time I get here we’re already in 36 deep!
My only question is, how come the cops haven’t been bitched out yet? C’mon now, don’t let me down.
Typical Kay bitch… While granted, the laws are inadequate, it’s not Nova Scotians fault. Your just a bitch, why cant you just understand that’s why people seem to hate you… It has nothing to do with where you are from, your just a bitch, Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, you could be from another country from all I care… A bitch is a bitch…
wow… to find bitches lurking on these pages… how very arrogant of me. pffft
Well kay before spouting off on laws, maybe you should at least consult the Criminal Code and Motor Vehicle Act (and don’t forget to read the definition pages).
I’ll bite, Bro, how many different ways are there to define “deadly weapon,” “reasonable care and attention” and “dead”?
And the ELEMENTS of the offence?