Bobby Cann Updates: Ryne San Hamel Pleads Guilty, Receives 10 Days in Jail

Jason Jenkins at ActiveTrans is helping to coordinate community response.  If there is any chance you can attend proceedings, please reach out to him: 

jason@activetrans.org.

 

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Permalink Reply by Rich S on May 20, 2015 at 4:59am

There is a Ride of Silence tonight that is stopping at several ghost bikes with Bobby's being the final stop.

I hope to see all concerned cyclists there. The more riders that attend the more visibility and awareness we can bring to the need for safer riding infrastructure and enforcement of traffic laws. 

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on May 29, 2015 at 3:28am

Two years have now gone by and information and discussion about the progress on this criminal case has stopped.  No further information has been made available for some time, and the Active Transportation Alliance has remained silent on the progress of these criminal hearings and any upcoming trial.

A refresher for those who may be forgetting or aren't aware of this:

The death of Bobby Cann shook Chicago's bicycling community to its core.  On a May 29th 2013 at around 6:35 p.m., Cann was struck and killed by Ryne San Hamel who was allegedly driving his Mercedes sedan 20 miles per hour over the speed limit.  San Hamel was charged with driving under the influence, having an alleged blood alcohol content of .127, well over the legal limit.  There was immediate wide spread outrage at the driver, heartfelt empathy for Cann's family and many friends, and fear among regular city cyclists.  A temporary memorial popped up at the site of the crash, which occurred outside of iconic Chicago bike shop Yojimbo's Garage.  In October, Clybourn Avenue was named Honorary Bobby Cann Way.  That same month The Reader featured Cann on its front page with the headline, "Death of a Cyclist." - See more at:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/cyclist-bobby-cann-bike-safety...

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130530/old-town/cyclist-killed-on-...


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-robert-cann-b...


http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130531/old-town/friends-cyclists-m...


http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130531/old-town/man-charged-with-d...

http://www.mybikeadvocate.com/2013/05/bobby-cann-was-model-bicyclis...

Permalink Reply by Bill Nedza on May 29, 2015 at 5:02am

Thanks, Bob.  I hope everyone reading your post will help keep this cause alive.  Two years.  I hope people read the stories as well -- especially the one in the Reader.  

Folks, this could have been any one of us who was killed.  Let's not let the effort to seek justice be in vain.  Take a long look at Bobby's photo.  

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 29, 2015 at 6:11am

"Two years have now gone by and information and discussion about the progress on this criminal case has stopped.  No further information has been made available for some time, and the Active Transportation Alliance has remained silent on the progress of these criminal hearings and any upcoming trial."

What are you talking about? I received an email from ATA's Jason Jenkins three days ago, about the upcoming hearing. Are you on their email list?

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on May 29, 2015 at 6:28am

The case continues to drag on. The gag order pretty much guarantees nothing of consequence will leak out of the hearings, certainly not before the transcript for a particular hearing is released, well after-the-fact. For the most part, the hearings seem to be trivial little procedural exercises with no actual content directly related to the facts of the case. It's not ATA's fault that there is nothing to report out.

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 29, 2015 at 8:10am

"It's not ATA's fault that there is nothing to report out."

Agreed.

Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on May 29, 2015 at 5:45am

I like this detailed history of both people.

 http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/cyclist-bobby-cann-bike-safety...

Especially note the many DUIs plea bargained down without a drivers license suspension by municipal courts.  We should make it MANDATORY that any DUI ticket go to the COUNTY DA.

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on May 29, 2015 at 8:11am

Mike Schwab:  The petition to discourage accepting a plea bargain instead of a criminal trail is still available:  http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/no-plea-bargain-for-ryne?source=c....
You can continue to sign the petition if you haven't already.  Signatures to the petition will still continue to be forwarded to Anita Alverez, the Cook County District Attorney.

Alex Z: I've asked to be included.  The last message I got from Jason Jenkins was an auto "out of office" replay on Dec 26th 2014.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on May 29, 2015 at 8:25am

Bob, is it okay to double-sign? I'm pretty sure I signed it at one point, but am not going to page backwards ten at a time through over 5600 names to verify that.

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on May 29, 2015 at 9:39am

Skip: it's OK to double-sign but it's discouraged.  It just look like trying to run up the numbers so it's best if there aren't a lot of duplicate names.  If you're "pretty sure" I wouldn't sign again.

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/no-plea-bargain-for-ryne?source=c....

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on May 29, 2015 at 8:54am

I reached out to Active Trans and Jason was very responsive and helpful. On one hand, as a cyclist, this is a very important issue to me and I really appreciate being able to learn about what is going on. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way - it is just as important to so many Chainlink members. That said, we need to be careful about how we discuss the case and be sensitive to the wishes of the friends and family of the victim. 

  • The argumentative history surrounding the discussion of the case on The Chainlink has been very upsetting to the family and friends of the victim. Active Trans is still actively following the case but they are no longer posting updates on The Chainlink.
  • Jason does provide updates to those that would like to receive them. However, if you post or broadcast those updates on sites like The Chainlink, due to the privacy requested by the family, Jason will need to remove you from any future updates. 
  • The 18th district CAPS program has generously worked with Active Trans to coordinate two training sessions for courtroom advocates to attend hearings, but part of their policies included keeping discussions about details of the hearings outside of the courtroom to a minimum to avoid unnecessary and potentially hurtful drama for the victims or victims relatives. 
  • As a policy, Active Trans will not continue to extend invites to individuals who they feel are disruptive to the process or post details of the hearings to public forums. Once again, anyone who is interested in receiving updates and notifications can email Jason personally to be added at jason@activetrans.org and he will be happy to add them to the list.
Permalink Reply by SixtyTwoPercent on May 29, 2015 at 4:20pm

Yasmeen -

I appreciate your reply but I have two issues. And pardon my being direct here.

First, this is so much more than about Bobby. It is about every cyclist in this city feeling like they have a voice in this matter. A voice that is heard in the court of law and that works for the benefit of all cyclists. There are so many bikers that are hit or injured and have no voice. Hijacking the cause seems like the generally proper thing to do here. We can't bring Bobby back but maybe out of this horrible situation, we can help keep the rest of the community somewhat safer as a result of our efforts.

But, I understand why ATA and the family (and no doubt the defense) would want to keep this focused. Which leads me to the second issue. ATA has lost all my support. I would rally against them but it is not in my best interest. They certainly do not owe me anything regarding this trial but I do expect (or, past tense, expected) them to advocate for cyclists. By continuing with their cloud of information control, they no longer speak for the masses and have alienated this former donor. 

 

How do we turn the page away from the back and forth around courtroom updates? I would prefer to advocate for as much media coverage of this event as possible. I would want to have a show of force at each stage of the process. I would want the court to know that there are many cyclists still interested in this. I would want a loud, clear and strong message to get to (allegedly) drunk drivers that they cannot get behind the wheel with impunity if they have the right resources. This site can be so much more impactful if we can figure out a way to organize and use this venue to create an action plan around getting the message out.

When this is all over are we going to be proud of our efforts or ashamed? Right now, I am in the latter. I am going away from this to consider how I can make an impact here. I am sure there are wiser folks here that can carry this forward/be leaders. I hope to see them step up. 

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