To people on Vancouver Island that have the day off tomorrow Thursday May 24th, 2012

[bccom]

Thought some riders on here might not belong to the Island riders forum.
They also have a Face Book page Court Hearing - Tracy Dawn Smith

Adele


Last July 1st, we lost a local rider to a drunk driver, who was under court order to not drink or possess any alcohol. In breach of her court ordered conditions, Tracy Dawn Smith got behind the wheel of a car, drove a portion of the Malahat, crossed the centre line and hit our friend, Jana Mahanthiran, (who many of us knew through VIBikers as 'Jaguar') who was out for a ride on his blue FZ1, head on, killing him at the scene.

Months have passed and the public may have forgotten a lot of this story, but those who were close to Jana, his family and those who attended the scene of this tragedy (one of whom is also a fellow rider) will not forget the impact of Tracy's actions on that day. I think it's important that Jana's story get some coverage, get some public outrage again, and for Tracy Smith to be prosecuted appropriately.

The court dates for Tracy Dawn Smith's trial is coming up. The first date is Thursday, May 17th for her Preliminary Hearing. The next trial dates after that are June 19th & 20th. All of these hearings are at the Western Communities courthouse on the Colwood strip (near McDonalds) and begin at 9:am. All riders who can are encouraged to attend!

There have been a few court dates so far, mainly for her plea and to set bail (yes, she's out on bail) and to set trial dates, etc. We have had a showing of riders at each of these court dates and I would love to keep that momentum of riders in the courthouse. There are a lot of reasons for wanting to keep up this show of support... Tracy's family is local and has been attending, presumably to support her (though there are some in her family who have spoken up otherwise on Facebook), but Jana's family including his widow, all live in Ontario. They came out here for the court dates so far, and on the first day, they came in feeling like they had nobody for support. Then they saw all of us with riding jackets on, carrying helmets... Later Jana's widow told me that they thought there were just some riders there for random court things, but soon realized we were all there for Jana and for them... they were very touched. These are such nice people that never deserved this tragedy in their lives. However, they are seeing the support from our local community and they are so very appreciative. Later, we sent them a video from the memorial ride for Jana (With over 100 riders!) and they were so touched again, they played the video at Jana's memorial in Ontario, for his friends and family to see. That show of support and caring goes an awful long way.

So far, at each court date, there has also been an array of media reporters. I'd like to see this story get more coverage, and not get lost in the shuffle since it's been 10 months since the tragedy. Riders showing up to this has really made an impact in that sense as well so far. I'd love for the courts to feel some public pressure to step up the penalty for Tracy Smith.

So, on that note, whether or not you knew Jana while he was here, if you can make it out to the courthouse on all or any of these dates, it would be much appreciated by everyone involved.

THIS PARTICULAR INVITATION TO ATTEND THE COURT HEARING IS FOR MAY 17th, and May 24th BUT THERE ARE 2 MORE UPCOMING DATES NEXT MONTH AS WELL: JUNE 19-20.

IF YOU CAN'T ATTEND THIS ONE, MAYBE YOU CAN ATTEND ONE OR BOTH OF THE JUNE DATES.

We all realize that these court dates are hard for many to attend, since they're during the week, but we do hope to have a good show of riders at each date.

[squonker]

I'm happy to show my support for that. I am working on 24th but I will try and get one of the June dates off work and be there. Thanks for bringing this up.

[Cowgirl]

The court hearing for Tracy Dawn Smith was held today. There will be no hearing tomorrow.

Here's what happened (from the VIBikers/FB page)


Here's what happened at court today:
Tuesday, June 19th - Preliminary Hearing

Tracy Dawn Smith appeared in court to enter her plea of "guilty".

... Prosecution asked for Tracy Dawn Smith to have her alias used in conjunction with her legal name on all documents, so that she will now be referred to as:
Tracy Dawn Smith aka Tracy Dawn Jaynes
That motion was granted and documents will now reflect that change.

She is charged with 'operating a motor vehicle under the influence, causing death', to which she pled guilty.

THE FACTS:

They ran through the abridged details of the case today so that it was clear what Ms. Smith was pleading guilty to.

- Ms. Smith was observed driving erratically minutes before
- She drove through a roundabout, but drove over the bricklock, not staying on the paved roadway
- She was acting erractically inside the vehicle
- and she cut off a vehicle as she entered the highway.

She was fully in the oncoming lane when she hit Jana on his motorcycle and another car, a white Mazda. She was so far into the oncoming lane that Jana was hit by the PASSENGER side of the front of her vehicle.

At the scene, Ms. Smith was observed to be impaired, admitted to consuming alcohol (despite her standing court order not to). Witnesses saw her moving erratically, slurring her words and said she smelled of alcohol.

Breath samples taken 7.5 HOURS after the collision read .50 (Still well over the limit nearly 8 hours later!) When authorities did the math, that put her between 1.26 - 2.0 BAC at the time of the incident. She also admitted to using crack cocaine that day.

This is what she understood today and pled guilty to.

NEXT STEPS:

Her probation officer will prepare a psych evaluation report which will take 6-8 weeks. Next court date is August 9th to fix a date for sentencing.

She's currently residing at Vision Quest treatment facility in Surrey, where she's been for the past 12 months. Her bail conditions continue until sentencing..

[bccom]

Attended court today and it was great to see the show of support by the riders on the Island. Glad to see she changed her plea, saves a lot of grief.

[Supersonic]

VENUE FOR TRACY SMITH SENTENCE APPEAL HEARING!

Appeal Court Registry in Victoria has confirmed that the Tracy Dawn Smith, appeal will be held February 27 in Court room #401 at 850 Burdett St. (the downtown courthouse, Burdett/Blanshard) Victoria at 10:00 AM.

This is the courthouse downtown Victoria, not Western Communities Courthouse as the previous hearings were.

Please spread the word!

[G-Mac]

Originally Posted by Supersonic

VENUE FOR TRACY SMITH SENTENCE APPEAL HEARING!

Appeal Court Registry in Victoria has confirmed that the Tracy Dawn Smith, appeal will be held February 27 in Court room #401 at 850 Burdett St. (the downtown courthouse, Burdett/Blanshard) Victoria at 10:00 AM.

This is the courthouse downtown Victoria, not Western Communities Courthouse as the previous hearings were.

Please spread the word!

Ok I must have missed something. What was this waste of skins sentence. And on what grounds is she appealing.

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by G-Mac

Ok I must have missed something. What was this waste of skins sentence. And on what grounds is she appealing.

She got 1 day in jail and probation. It's the Crown that is appealing for a longer sentence. Let's hope they win.

[Ron from BC]

Lots of laws.....little justice