Supreme Court

R. v. Grandjambe, 2003 NWTSC 16
Date: 20030324
Docket: S-1-CR-2003000001

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

IN THE MATTER OF:


HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN


- v -


CINDY GRANDJAMBE


Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence delivered by The Honourable Justice J.E. Richard, in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, on the 21st day of March, A.D. 2003.


APPEARANCES:

Mr. S. Niblock:   Counsel for the Crown

Mr. G. Watt:    Counsel for the Defence


Charge under s. 4(1) CDSA


THE COURT:   Ms. Grandjambe has pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine contrary to section 4(1) of the CDSA. Her counsel, Mr. Watt, in relating her personal circumstances to the court for purposes of this sentencing hearing, asserts that she is addicted to cocaine. He bases this on medical and hospital records that he has examined. The Crown has not contested on this sentencing hearing the fact of Ms. Grandjambe's cocaine addiction.

The offence before the court consists of two separate instances where this woman was observed in possession of cocaine.

Back in March of 2002, the police, as part of a larger investigation into the illegal drug trade in this city, apparently targeted Ms. Grandjambe as a person that they believed to be a frequent associate of cocaine traffickers. On March 30th, two undercover agents contacted her and sought her assistance in obtaining some cocaine. After two hours of importuning, they were successful inasmuch as Ms. Grandjambe took them to a place here in Yellowknife where she met with one Norman Hache. The undercover police agents gave her $950 and then observed as she purchased ten grams of cocaine from Mr. Hache, and then she immediately turned the cocaine over to these agents. She received $50 for her efforts. She was thus in possession of the cocaine on March 30th for a

[Page 1]

very brief period of time.

A few days later on April 3rd, the undercover police agents approached a cocaine trafficker named Long Huynh. In the course of those negotiations Mr. Huynh took these agents to Ms. Grandjambe's residence. While there, Mr. Huynh produced a spit ball of cocaine which was then cut up into two lines of cocaine. In the presence of the undercover agents, Ms. Grandjambe was seen to snort one of the lines of cocaine.

Those are the circumstances of the two incidents which comprise her crime of possession of cocaine. The maximum penalty for this crime is seven years imprisonment.

Ms. Grandjambe is 31 years old and has a grade 12 equivalent education, She is an aboriginal person originally from Fort Good Hope but has lived in Yellowknife these past ten years. She is a single woman who has two children; however, the children, I am told, are cared for not by her but by their grandmother, that is, Ms. Grandjambe's mother.

Ms. Grandjambe has not maintained any employment in recent years. She has no fixed address of her own. She lives a very destructive lifestyle, in the words of her lawyer, and she associates with and resides with known drug traffickers. She does live from time to time, I am told, at her parents' residence here in Yellowknife and apparently she is welcome to return

[Page 2]

there.

According to Mr. Watt's examination of the records at Stanton Hospital, on three separate occasions in the past year Ms. Grandjambe has attended at the emergency ward suffering from cocaine withdrawal and asking for help.

Ms. Grandjambe does not have any significant criminal record. She has one conviction, a drinking and driving offence, eight years ago in her home community of Fort Good Hope.

I will just mention for the record that in recent years there has been a flourishing illegal trade in cocaine in our city. From the cases that come before this court, one gleans the impression that the police are working very diligently in their investigations but they can hardly keep up with this rampant illegal activity. The cocaine trade has brought many social problems to our community and the personal circumstances of Cindy Grandjambe is but small evidence of that. The courts have attempted to do their part and have almost without exception imposed substantial jail terms for cocaine traffickers. Ms. Grandjambe is not a trafficker; she is a user. But without users there would be no traffickers, no illegal trade.

Crown counsel submits that the principles of specific and general deterrence require a term of

[Page 3]

imprisonment in this case. The Crown submits that an appropriate sentence would be a jail term in the range of six months.

Mr. Watt, in his submissions on behalf of Ms. Grandjambe, asks the Court to find that there is a reasonable chance for Ms. Grandjambe's rehabilitation, in particular, a reasonable chance for her to overcome her cocaine addiction. Ms. Grandjambe herself states to the Court that she is willing to take treatment to overcome her addiction.

Mr. Watt refers the Court to the Preston decision in the B.C. Court of Appeal in 1990 and to the conclusion of that court, that specific and general deterrence do not necessarily trump rehabilitation as a factor in the sentencing of a non-violent, addicted substance abuser such as Ms. Grandjambe. I find much merit in the careful reasoning of the court in Preston.

In my view, an appropriate custodial sentence for Ms. Grandjambe' s crime in this case, given her lack of a criminal record and other circumstances, is four months.

However, after careful consideration and trusting Ms. Grandjambe's statement to the Court that she is willing to take treatment for her addiction, I am prepared to take a chance on her so that she can avoid incarceration and instead suspend the passing of

[Page 4]

sentence for the time being and give her the opportunity to work on her own rehabilitation. If it succeeds, so much the better. Society will benefit from her rehabilitation. If she fails the test, she will be brought back here and sentence will be imposed.

Please stand now, Ms. Grandjambe.

Pursuant to section 731 of the Criminal Code, I suspend the passing of sentence for six months. I direct that you be released on conditions to be included in a probation order. In addition to the statutory conditions, the conditions will be as follows:

(1) You are to report to the probation officer here in Yellowknife by 4:00 o'clock next Monday, weekly thereafter, and at such other times as directed by the probation officer.

(2) You are to maintain your residence at 110 Jeske Crescent and at no other address.

(3) You are to advise the probation officer prior to leaving Yellowknife for any reason.

(4) You are to take any treatment program or counselling that is recommended by your probation officer.

(5) You shall submit to physical tests for the detection of the presence of drugs whenever requested by the probation officer.

[Page 5]

(6) You shall have no contact direct or indirect with Long Huynh, Norman Hache, or any other person known by you to be a cocaine user or cocaine trafficker.

(7) You are to perform 50 hours of community service work as directed by your probation officer.

Now, Ms. Grandjambe, do you understand those conditions?

THE ACCUSED:  Yes.

THE COURT:   I want you to remain here after court until the Clerk prepares the probation order. I'm going to ask Mr. Watt and the Clerk to review those conditions with you again to ensure that you understand them, and I'm also going to ask Mr. Watt to review with you the provisions of section 732.2 and section 733.1 of the Criminal Code.

Now essentially, Ms. Grandjambe, what those provisions say is this. If you do not obey these conditions that I've just set out in the probation order, you can be charged with breach of probation and sentenced for that. But also, and this is more important, you can be brought back here and the court can revoke this order that I am making today, cancel it, and you will be sentenced for the cocaine charge.

Do you understand that?

THE ACCUSED:  Yes, I do.

THE COURT:   I want to state for the record that if there is a breach, the Court expects that

[Page 6]

Probation Services and the Crown office will bring the matter back to this court.

Now, Ms. Grandjambe, from what I've learned of you and your using of cocaine, I suspect that this is not going to be easy for you, but only you know how hard it is going to be for you. So if you want to stay out of jail and, more importantly, if you want to get on with a normal life, you have just got to hang in there, get through this six months and then hopefully continue that way.

This is unusual for us to do this in this court. Mr. Watt has made a good argument for you. Cases come in here about cocaine use or cocaine trafficking and we just send them out the door to the jail. I'm going to take a chance on you.

THE ACCUSED:  Thank you, Your Honour.

THE COURT:   I know it's going to be hard for you but I hope that you get through it.

Thank you, you can sit down.

Anything further, counsel?

MR. NIBLOCK:  No, sir, thank you.

MR. WATT:   No, sir.

THE COURT:   Thank you.

[Page 7]

Certified to be a true and accurate transcript, pursuant to Rule 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules of Court

Annette Wright, RPR, CSR(A)
Court Reporter

[Page 8]