Saanich police and Crown prosecutors learned a hard lesson about the dangers of trial-by-YouTube this week. The rest of us should also pay attention. When a video appeared on YouTube in April 2012 showing a motorcycle weaving through traffic on the Trans-sa国际传媒 Highway at up to 299 km/h, demands to punish the rider came quickly. With the video viewed thousands of times, Saanich police were under a lot of public pressure.
Despite the difficulty of identifying the bike when only the speedometer and windscreen were visible in the video, investigators 鈥� with help from the public 鈥� were able to track the machine, which was registered to the mother of Randy George Scott, 26.
Scott was charged with dangerous driving, but the problem was how to prove that he was the rider. Nothing in the video or on the bike identified the rider. An off-duty police officer had seen the bike that day, but described the rider as a much slimmer person than Scott.
Officers didn鈥檛 follow up on a note that appeared to be a confession, left at the Cactus Club by an unknown man, which might or might not have led to a suspect.
The judge said police violated Scott鈥檚 rights by seizing the bike without a warrant, but that decision didn鈥檛 affect their ability to prove the rider鈥檚 identity.
Although Judge Robert Higinbotham said the rider鈥檚 actions were 鈥渙utrageous and extremely dangerous,鈥� he ruled the Crown didn鈥檛 prove Scott was riding the bike.
Instead of learning a lesson about swift and sure justice, the rider 鈥� whoever he is 鈥� has learned he can get away with recklessly endangering dozens of innocent people. It鈥檚 a lesson that could have tragic consequences.
