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Abstract: Transcript of the reasons for sentence
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R. v. Sunrise, 2006 NWTSC 47 S-1-CR2006000025 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - vs. - BARRY SUNRISE _________________________________________________________ Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence by The Honourable Justice J.E. Richard, at Hay River in the Northwest Territories, on September 19th A.D., 2006. _________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES: Mr. B. Gaunt: Counsel for the Crown Ms. P. Taylor: Counsel for the Accused ---------------------------------------- Charged under s. 348(1)(b), s. 271, s. 348(1)(b) Criminal Code BAN ON PUBLICATION OF COMPLAINANT/WITNESS PURSUANT TO SECTION 486 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE Official Court Reporters 1 THE COURT: The offender Barry Sunrise has 2 pleaded guilty to the offence of breaking and 3 entering a dwelling house on the Katlodeeche 4 Reserve and committing therein the indictable 5 offence of theft. In addition, he has been found 6 guilty, following a trial, of the offence of 7 break and entering a different dwelling house on 8 the Katlodeeche Reserve and committing therein 9 the indictable offence of sexual assault. These 10 two offences occurred on the same date, February 11 11th of 2006, and indeed within the space of an 12 hour or so. 13 The circumstances, briefly, are that this 14 offender, while intoxicated, entered the home of 15 his former common-law spouse on the Katlodeeche 16 Reserve and sexually assaulted her in the 17 livingroom of her house where she was passed out 18 from intoxication. The sexual assault ended when 19 the victim's 27-year-old son came home and caught 20 the offender in the act. 21 This is an offence that is all too common in 22 this jurisdiction and the sentence imposed must 23 take into consideration the important principles 24 of deterrence and denunciation. In my respectful 25 view, the sentences being proposed by each of 26 defence counsel and Crown counsel fall far short 27 of giving effect to these two principles in the Official Court Reporters 1 1 circumstances of this case. 2 In an effort to prevent the offender from 3 leaving the residence before the police arrived, 4 the victim's son picked up one of the offender's 5 shoes and threw it outside the residence. 6 Nonetheless, the offender fled a short while 7 later. These events all occurred at 3 o'clock or 8 4 o'clock in the morning. The offender broke and 9 entered into another home on the reserve by 10 breaking a kitchen window and entering that house 11 while the two occupants there were sleeping. 12 After he left, it was discovered that he had 13 stolen a shoe. As stated, the offender pleaded 14 guilty to this second break and enter. 15 The offender Barry Sunrise is not a stranger 16 to the courtroom. He has a lengthy criminal 17 record. He has in excess of 30 convictions under 18 the Criminal Code for various types of offences. 19 He has three prior convictions for break and 20 enter. He has six prior convictions for assault 21 and three of those are noted as being spousal 22 assaults in 1994, 1996, and 1999. Indeed the 23 1999 spousal assault, I am told, was committed 24 against the same victim as his current offence. 25 He also has a prior conviction for sexual 26 assault and that was as recent as 2002 when he 27 received a sentence of 12 months. My reading of Official Court Reporters 2 1 the reasons for sentence of June 2002 indicate to 2 me that Mr. Sunrise received a lenient or a 3 minimal sentence at that time. The circumstances 4 of his 2002 sexual assault conviction are 5 strikingly similar to those of his present 6 offence. 7 Mr. Sunrise's prior criminal record is 8 clearly an aggravating circumstance. 9 His plea of guilty to the second break and 10 enter upon his arraignment yesterday is a 11 mitigating circumstance. He cannot receive any 12 similar mitigation in sentence for the first 13 break and enter. Indeed, he does not appear to 14 accept the verdict of guilty in that matter. 15 The law requires that the sentence that the 16 Court imposes for these offences must be 17 proportionate to the gravity or seriousness of 18 the crime committed and the offender's degree of 19 responsibility for those crimes. The sentences 20 proposed by each of defence counsel and Crown 21 counsel, again in my respectful view, hardly 22 reflect that proportionality. 23 One of the objectives of the sentence to be 24 imposed is to promote a sense of responsibility 25 in Mr. Sunrise for what he has done. Although 26 Mr. Sunrise appears in court today and accepts 27 responsibility for one of the crimes by his Official Court Reporters 3 1 guilty plea, I note that at the time of the 2 offences he took the opposite view. When 3 confronted in the act of sexually assaulting an 4 unconscious woman, his immediate response was 5 that she was consenting. When confronted in the 6 act of breaking a window and entering a house at 7 4 a.m., his immediate response was that he had 8 seen someone else do it. 9 Mr. Sunrise was arrested on February 12th 10 and has now been in custody over seven months 11 awaiting his trial on these charges. His trial 12 was scheduled to occur in July, over two months 13 ago, but at the last minute he and his previous 14 counsel had a falling-out and so his trial had to 15 be rescheduled for this week. For this pre-trial 16 custody, he is entitled to be given credit 17 towards his sentence in accordance with the 18 practice of the Court and binding case law. 19 In all of the circumstances, in particular 20 the gravity of the main offence, the lengthy 21 record of prior criminal behaviour, in my view an 22 appropriate sentence is three years' imprisonment 23 on the first offence and one year consecutive on 24 the second offence. For reasons that I have 25 stated, I give Mr. Sunrise credit of one year for 26 pre-trial custody and that one year will be 27 deducted from the sentence that would otherwise Official Court Reporters 4 1 be imposed. 2 Please stand, Mr. Sunrise. 3 Barry Sunrise, on Count number 1, the crime 4 of break and enter and commit sexual assault, it 5 is the sentence of this Court that you be 6 imprisoned for a period of two years. 7 On Count number 3, for the crime of break, 8 enter and commit theft, the sentence of this 9 Court is that you be imprisoned for a period of 10 one year consecutive to the sentence on Count 1. 11 There will be a Section 109 firearms 12 prohibition order for a period of ten years. 13 Also, I grant the order sought by the Crown 14 under Section 490.011 requiring you to comply 15 with the provisions of the Sex Offender 16 Information Registration Act for life. 17 In the circumstances, there will be no 18 Victim of Fine surcharge. 19 You may be seated, sir. 20 Anything else on this case, counsel? 21 MR. GAUNT: Not from the Crown, Your 22 Honour. 23 MS. TAYLOR: I just wanted to make sure 24 that I understood the sentence, Your Honour. The 25 one year for pre-trial custody, is that to be 26 deducted from the total of three years that you 27 have imposed or is that already taken into Official Court Reporters 5 1 account? 2 THE COURT: It has already been deducted 3 from the four years that would otherwise be 4 imposed. 5 MS. TAYLOR: Thank you. 6 THE COURT: Close Court. 7 ------------------------------------- 8 9 10 Certified to be a true and accurate transcript pursuant 11 to Rules 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules, 12 13 14 15 ____________________________ 16 Lois Hewitt, CSR(A), RPR, CRR Court Reporter 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 6
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