Mind-Boggling Sophistry

"As callous and cold as it sounds, there was nothing that could be done. The life wasn't endangered by the activity." Lawyer Norm Boxall

" When you hit somebody with your car and drive away you are exposing them to danger, harm and risk. The fact other people happened to be present doesn't mitigate the danger he left Mr. O'Neil in." Prosecutor Assistant Crown Attorney Jason Neubauer

Two lawyers. One the crown prosecutor, the other the lawyer for the defence. One wonders, if their positions were reversed, would they also have forwarded the same arguments? Is there any honour among lawyers, or is the law only there to be manipulated to make it seem as though the defence is reasonable, and the prosecutor too wedded to the letter of the law?

And it is for Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins McVey to plod her way through the arguments to arrive at a decision thought to be precedent-setting on whether a man brought before a court of justice in Canada, Andrew Wieczorek, who drove under the influence of alcohol, and speeding, struck and killed an 18-year-old pedestrian, and then sped from the scene. Mr. Wieczorek pleaded guilty to the charge of leaving the scene.

After he had struck and killed the young man he drove home. He likely took a shower, cursing the inconvenient turn his life had just taken, took another shot of alcohol to steady his nerves, and made his way to bed. In the morning, he contacted his father, hired a lawyer, and turned himself in to the Ottawa police. Here I am, guilty of leaving the scene, nothing more, nothing less. Analyze my breath for alcohol now, if you wish.

The victim had himself been celebrating his 18th birthday, drinking with friends. He did not sit himself before the steering wheel of a car. He undertook to walk home. Un-alert to traffic, he crossed against the light, was hit by the 22-year-old man who had enjoyed a night of alcoholic beverages with friends, was tossed over the median and into the northbound lanes of traffic. Most unfortunate.

Failing to remain at the scene of a collision, argued the prosecution, constitutes a "serious personal injury offence" under the Criminal Code. Leaving someone injured at the side of a road without bothering to stop, or to call for help is criminal negligence. The defence, however, contends that the busy intersection was full of people and other drivers, any of whom might come to the aid of the young man struck by the driver who drove off.

His client should be sentenced to no more than 90 days, perhaps intermittently served on week-ends. The value of a young man's life.