Reservists sentenced for beating homeless man to death
Thu, 2008-05-01 13:25
#1
Reservists sentenced for beating homeless man to death
Thu, 2008-05-01 13:25
#2
The two who entered mid-trial pleas to manslaughter were sentenced to roughly 10 years each today. The third, convicted of accessory after the fact, was sentenced to 10 months. All three had also been convicted of assault causing bodily harm for attacking a bystander who attempted to stop their assault on Paul Croutch.
This [url=http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/420437]Toronto Star article[/url] also shows that, contrary to what some suspected in the earlier discussion, the Crown and defence had not agreed on sentencing recommendations when the plea was accepted. The Crown asked for 15, the defence asked for 9-10 years for Hall, and the sentence was 10 yrs 8 mos. Defence counsel asked for 3 years in addition to more than 2 years time served for Dagenis, and the sentence was 5 yrs 6 mos. (Pre-sentence custody usually counts at 2:1.)
The article also notes that once charged all three accused were suspended from the Canadian Forces, and that they will be discharged from military service now that they have been convicted.
[edit for typ-o in title]
[ 01 May 2008: Message edited by: the grey ]
Thu, 2008-05-01 13:43
#3
M. Spector
Rhetorical question: How much worse does a manslaughter have to be before it merits the maximum penalty of life imprisonment?
Thu, 2008-05-01 18:30
#4
The severity of the offence is only one of the factors going to sentencing.
Sat, 2008-05-03 14:57
#5
M. Spector
According to the [url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080502.RESERVISTS02/T..., the actual sentences were 10 years for aggravated manslaughter to both Hall and Deganis, plus 1 year each for ABH against Valerie Valen, to be served consecutively. The third reservist also got a year for the Valen assault.
All three got credit for time served, reducing their remaining sentences to:
Hall 10 years, 8 months
Deganis 5 years, 6 months
Ibrahim 10 months
Previous threads:
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=008203]20...
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=009077]20...
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=009757]20...
Sun, 2008-05-04 18:21
#6
quote:
Originally posted by M. Spector:
[b]Rhetorical question: How much worse does a manslaughter have to be before it merits the maximum penalty of life imprisonment?[/b]
That's a good question. There's a public perception that one would typically get more jail time for shooting a moose out of season or without a permit than for shooting a person. That may be a bit of a perception problem but it didn't come about by accident.
In BC there are a number of cases that come to mind. The road race slaughter of [b]Irene Thorpe[/b], the gang bludgeoning to death of [b]Aaron Webster[/b], and recently a case which didn't result in death, but did leave a victim a quadrapalegic after two young men assulted him with an axe. Light sentences all around, except that in the last case there was such an outcry after the offenders were caught laughing about it on TV that the judge revisited the matter and upped the penalties. It's good to know that justice is blind to press pressure and public opinion, except when there's video available.
Sun, 2008-05-04 19:54
#7
M. Spector
From the Globe article I linked to above:
quote:
In deciding the sentence, Judge Ewaschuk said he considered the fact that as members of the Queen's Own Rifles, the reservists were trusted to protect rather than harm the public, that they demonstrated a hatred of homeless people, and, although intoxicated, they were aware of their actions."Mr. Croutch had no chances of survival whatsoever from the relentless punching and kicking of the accused; they literally stamped Mr. Croutch to death," the judge said. "The accused had a hatred of homeless people and viewed them as human garbage to be evicted from Moss Park."
Here's what bugs me:
Hall and Deganis were guilty of second-degree murder if only the Crown could prove they intended to kill Croutch, and they would have received the mandatory life sentence. The Crown doubted, however, that they could prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt because of the accuseds' state of intoxication. This was why they agreed to drop the second degree murder charge in exchange for a guilty plea on manslaughter.
But the judge's remarks quoted above leave little doubt that he was convinced of the element of intent on the part of Hall and Deganis, despite their intoxication.
So these accused, who by rights should be locked up for life for intentional second degree murder, end up with a far lesser sentence for manslaughter. But it's not because the judge's hands were tied. He could have sentenced them to anything up to life imprisonment for manslaughter, but gave them 10 years, of which they will serve less than 4.
The judge's sentence is a joke, when compared to the mandatory sentence for second degree murder.