Great Moments in Canadian Sentencing 07.17.08

He killed 43 people and got a chance to redeem himself, but he squandered it and went back to jail under the double stigma of being a snitch and a child molester.

Now terminally ill, Yves (Apache) Trudeau has received parole again

Sweet.

What was Dan Gardner's priceless line again?  "In most cases today, serious criminals are seriously punished."  Yep.

Comments

[Jim Whyte]

Consistency time. It has been agreed before that likelihood of reoffending is the sole criterion for parole:

http://bobtarantino.blogs.com/blog/2007/12/obviously-dysfu.html

So if Latimer should be out, so should someone that killed 43 people. Even a bike-gang contract killer. Even The Mad Bumper.

Did I say something in that old thread about a bad law?

[Mike H]

"In their decision, the two board members, Pierre Cadieux and Odette Gravel-Dunberry, noted that four out of five inmates in cases similar to Mr. Trudeau's did not reoffend."

Let me see if I have this right. Twenty per cent of inmates who are paroled because they are terminally ill still manage to reoffend? I call that dedication to your chosen profession. On a slightly different note, it does raise serious concerns about the wisdom of granting parole to the healthy. I should qualify that somewhat. It gives one pause, so long as one is not a parole board member.

[Mike H]

Forgive me for cutting your grass, Bob, but it was a banner week for "Great Moments in Canadian Sentencing." Here are 3 more beauties:

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2008/07/10/6116796-sun.html

"Donald King had watched the female teenage driver from his friend's balcony across the street.

He saw her smash her mother's van into another vehicle in apartment building parking lot where she lived.

He was going to call the police. Instead, he's going to prison for extortion and sexual assault.

King, 42, was sentenced to three years and 10 months for trying to exchange sex for silence, then sexually assaulting the 16-year-old driver when she resisted."

[...]

Assistant Crown attorney Adam Campbell asked for a six- to nine- year sentence. He noted King had a previous conviction from years ago for aggravated sexual assault.

King's defence lawyer Ron Ellis argued for a conditional sentence. The prior conviction, he said stemmed from substance abuse. King complied with all his bail conditions and has family supports.

Jenkins agreed the criminal record was dated and "that there was very little force involved in these offences and that (the teenager) was no physically injured.

Alcohol was also a factor, he said.

Jenkins said he had to consider "that these are very serious offences."

"You forced this young girl who was only 16 years old and in Grade 10 to have oral sex and unprotected sexual intercourse with you against her will," Jenkins said.

Jenkins granted King a two-for-one credit for the two months he spent in custody and ordered a DNA sample and a firearms prohibition."

For the record, here is the Criminal Code section dealing with Aggravated sexual assault:

273(1) Aggravated sexual assault - Every one commits an aggravated sexual assault who, in committing a sexual assault, wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant.

This piece of filth watched a 16 year old girl get into an accident, and as a result, sensed an opportunity to rape her, and in fact did rape her. The rape involved unprotected sex. He has a previous conviction for the most serious level of sexual assault on the books, and he receives a sentence of 3 years, 10 months.

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=ebd43b33-ea07-45fc-ae78-2379e5c28cc5&sponsor=

"Women terrorized in vicious Banff attack"

"Two women heading home after a night out with friends in Banff accepted a ride from a stranger, unleashing a hellish ordeal that could have cost them their lives.

A man with a history of attacking women -- including one in Calgary -- is accused of kidnapping, beating and sexually assaulting the two early Sunday morning."

[...]

"Cory Lawrence Bitternose, 38, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, choking to overcome resistance, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats, dangerous driving and possession of stolen property.

Stourac called it a random attack, adding Bitternose was not known to Banff RCMP.

Bitternose has a long criminal history, including several attacks on women dating back more than 15 years.

In 1992, Bitternose pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for an attack two years earlier on a woman in an office building washroom in downtown Calgary after mistaking her for someone else.

The beating was so vicious, a sneaker imprint was left on the face of the victim.

For that, Bitternose was jailed more than five years.

In 2004, Bitternose was sentenced in Regina to serve 30 months in prison -- in addition to the two years he had already spent behind bars -- for the sexual assault, assault and illegal confinement in the beating of a man and that man's girlfriend, and an unrelated assault on another woman."

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/461790

"Convicted terrorist dodges deportation since 1988"

"BRANTFORD–A convicted terrorist ordered out of Canada two decades ago is still living with his family in their modest semi-detached bungalow in northeast Brantford.

Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad made international headlines in 1968 when he and an accomplice attacked an Israeli commercial airliner at Athens airport. They killed one passenger and destroyed the plane in a failed escape bid.

Nineteen years and several countries later, Mohammad entered Canada after lying about his terrorist past. Immigration Canada caught him in the lie and ordered him deported in December 1988.

But today, he is preparing to celebrate his 65th birthday in Canada as appeal after appeal has delayed his expulsion."

[...]

"In his application for residency, Mohammad denied being convicted of any crime. He also claimed no involvement in any political organization since he was 18 years old. As a result of these lies and omissions, he was ordered deported in 1988.

But through seemingly inexhaustible avenues of appeal and due process of law – including applying for refugee status – he has staved off deportation.

Mohammad vowed not to give up without a fight. "Usually, expecting the thing is more difficult than to have it...," he said, referring to how hard it was to wait for the decision. "But I'll fight to the last moment. I am not going to give up."

Maybe we should give Shariah law a go after all. Can it be much worse than what we have now?

[Jim Whyte]

You really brightened my day, there, Mike :o(

But a good post.

[Mike H]

On the bright side, Jim, the Crown will surely be making a Dangerous Offender application with regard to Bitternose, now that our justice system has allowed him to pad his resume by brutalising two more women:

"Bitternose warned about dangerous offender application"

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/07/17/bitternose-dangerous-offender.html

"Crown lawyers gave serious thought to applying for dangerous offender status in 2004 for a man now accused of a violent sexual assault near Banff, but they never pursued it, according to court documents."

[...]

"Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench Justice Ian McLellan warned Bitternose: "I would point out to you that I am sure that the Crown gave serious thought to bringing an application to have you declared a dangerous offender.

"And I would like to point out to you that if you come back before this court for any service, any offences, you will likely face such an application."

It would seem that Bitternose didn't give any "serious thought" to the judge's " Don't let me catch you back in my courtroom again," schtick. One wonders why anyone involved in Bitternose's 2004 prosecution thought he would.

[dcardno]

The reporter has a great imagination:

"Crown lawyers gave serious thought to..."
does not follow from:
"...I would point out to you that I am sure that the Crown gave serious thought..." (my emphasis).