Supreme Court
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Decision information:
Abstract: Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence
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R. v. Young, 2010 NWTSC 18 S-1-CR2009000012 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - vs. - REGINALD YOUNG _________________________________________________________ Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence by The Honourable Justice D. M. Cooper, at Hay River in the Northwest Territories, on March 1st A.D., 2010. _________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES: Mr. M. Lecorre: Counsel for the Crown Mr. N. Homberg: Counsel for the Accused ---------------------------------------- Charge under s. 5(1) Controlled Drugs and Substances Act Official Court Reporters 1 THE COURT: The accused stands convicted, 2 after a trial by Judge alone, of having 3 trafficked in a controlled substance, namely 4 cocaine, and for this the penalty can be up to 5 life imprisonment. The Crown asks that the Court 6 impose a denunciatory sentence of approximately 7 13 months in that the circumstances of the case 8 at bar, and of the accused, are similar to those 9 in R. v. Simpson 2008 NWTSC 92, a previous 10 decision of this Court; in fact, one which I have 11 rendered. The defendant asks the Court to 12 consider imposing a sentence that is less 13 restrictive having reference to the provisions of 14 Section 718.2 of the Criminal Code. 15 I have previously set out the facts in this 16 case in some detail in the reasons for judgment 17 that I delivered earlier today and so will not 18 review those facts at any length. In short, I 19 found the accused guilty of having sold 20 approximately 1.2 grams of cocaine to another 21 person for the sum of $200. 22 In terms of personal circumstances, the 23 accused is a 43-year-old Metis man who is 24 currently unemployed but who, defence counsel 25 advises, works as a fisherman during summer 26 months. He is living in a common-law 27 relationship and his partner is one month Official Court Reporters 1 1 pregnant. He has struggled with alcohol 2 addiction but has been sober the past few years. 3 He has a modest criminal record although, of 4 note, with no related convictions. The last 5 conviction occurred in 2007 where the accused was 6 convicted of impaired driving and two offences 7 for failing to attend court. The previous minor 8 convictions are in excess of 20 years old. 9 In the Northwest Territories, Courts have 10 consistently said that the offence of trafficking 11 in "hard drugs", like cocaine, calls for a 12 denunciatory and deterrent sentence and one that 13 offers protection to the public such as in the 14 case here. 15 The drug trade is a scourge which damages 16 communities and destroys lives. Those who engage 17 in this enterprise do so at their own risk. 18 While I note that the accused is of Metis 19 heritage, I have not heard of any systemic 20 factors which could or should lead me to consider 21 a restorative type sentence. 22 Having reference to Section 718.2 and 23 Section 10(2) of the Controlled Drugs and 24 Substances Act, I find that none of the 25 aggravating factors listed in those sections 26 apply in this case. However, I can see no 27 mitigating factors either. Official Court Reporters 2 1 There was, from the accused, no expression 2 of remorse and he did not plead guilty. He was 3 entitled to have his trial, and this is not 4 aggravating in itself, but he does not get the 5 benefit of mitigation of sentence for having 6 pleaded guilty. 7 The circumstances were very similar to those 8 in the Simpson case. Both accused were 9 trafficking in a gram, or a little more than a 10 gram, of cocaine; both were middle-aged; both had 11 minor criminal and unrelated records; and both 12 went to trial. One minor distinction is that in 13 Simpson the accused was offering to traffic, 14 offering to sell and was convicted of 15 trafficking, whereas here an actual transaction 16 occurred. It was suggested in the Simpson case 17 that offering to sell is to be treated more 18 leniently than actually selling of cocaine, or of 19 drugs, but this is particularly the case where 20 what is being offered for sale is not a real drug 21 but rather an imitation. However, there is some 22 authority to suggest that offering to sell is not 23 as serious, to be treated as seriously as actual 24 selling. 25 One of the principles of sentencing, which 26 counsel have referred to, is that similar 27 sentences are to be imposed upon similar Official Court Reporters 3 1 offenders in similar circumstances. Having 2 reference to that principle and the facts in this 3 case and the personal circumstances of the 4 accused, I am going to sentence this accused to 5 13 months imprisonment. I recommend that the 6 authorities give consideration to the accused 7 serving his sentence in the South Mackenzie 8 Correctional Centre. 9 Given the circumstances of the accused, his 10 age, I am not inclined to make a probation order 11 in this case. It will be for the accused to 12 decide if he is going to turn himself around and 13 stay away from this kind of activity. And I am 14 sure that should he wish to obtain counselling, 15 he can do so without having to be ordered to do 16 so by the Court. 17 There will be a Section 109 firearms 18 prohibition order which will remain in force for 19 ten years starting from the date that Mr. Young 20 is released from custody. 21 With respect to the DNA order requested by 22 the Crown, other than the accused having a minor 23 and unrelated record and the fact that this is a 24 serious offence, there appears to be, to me, no 25 rationale for making this order. Such an order 26 would out of necessity intrude upon the privacy 27 of the individual. If due to the seriousness of Official Court Reporters 4 1 the offence I was required to make the order, 2 then Parliament would have prescribed it to be 3 mandatory. Given the nature of this offence and 4 the record of the accused, I am not convinced 5 that it is appropriate that I make this order in 6 the circumstances and I exercise my discretion to 7 decline to do so. 8 I wish to thank counsel for the 9 representations with respect to the potential for 10 avoiding forfeiture of the money held, being the 11 proceeds of crime held by the RCMP, and taking at 12 least some of that and applying it to the victims 13 of crime surcharge. While I appreciate the 14 ingenuity of counsel, I am not persuaded that it 15 would be appropriate in the circumstances to take 16 this route and therefore I will simply order that 17 the exhibits, including the cash and the drugs -- 18 the drugs be destroyed and the cash be forfeit to 19 the Queen upon the expiration of the appeal 20 period. 21 Is there anything else, counsel? 22 MR. LECORRE: No, Your Honour. 23 MR. HOMBERG: No, Your Honour. 24 THE COURT: All right, I would like to 25 thank you both for the very professional manner 26 that you handled yourselves in this case. And as 27 always, I would like to thank the court staff. Official Court Reporters 5 1 Madam Clerk. 2 THE COURT CLERK: Order, all rise. 3 ------------------------------------- 4 5 6 Certified correct to the best of my skill and ability, 7 8 9 10 ____________________________ 11 Lois Hewitt, CSR(A), RPR, CRR Court Reporter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 6
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