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Abstract: Transcript of the reasons for Sentence
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R. v. Panaktalok, 2010 NWTSC 103 S-1-CR2010000227 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - vs. - DARCY JOSEPH PANAKTALOK _________________________________________________________ Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence by The Honourable Justice V.A. Schuler, at Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, on December 20th A.D., 2010. _________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES: Ms. S. Smallwood: Counsel for the Crown Mr. T. Boyd: Counsel for the Accused ---------------------------------------- Charge under s. 266 Criminal Code of Canada Official Court Reporters 1 THE COURT: Mr. Panaktalok has entered a 2 plea of guilty to one count of common assault 3 pursuant to Section 266 of the Criminal Code. 4 Because this matter is in Supreme Court and was 5 proceeded with by indictment, or really simply 6 because it was proceeded with by indictment, the 7 maximum punishment for an indictable common 8 assault is five years in jail. 9 Now, I take into account what Crown counsel 10 has said which is, that had this charge been 11 proceeded with alone, the Crown would have gone 12 by summary conviction and therefore the maximum 13 sentence would be six months in jail. So that 14 the reason that the Crown went by indictment is 15 because of other charges, several other charges, 16 and that those charges were the focus of the 17 preliminary inquiry in this matter and basically 18 the reason for the preliminary inquiry, and he 19 was discharged on those other charges. So his 20 guilty plea in this matter, and I note that the 21 guilty plea comes just a few weeks after the 22 committal for trial, and I will just pause so 23 that counsel can confirm that in case that I 24 have got that wrong -- November 23rd was the 25 committal, is that correct? 26 MR. BOYD: That's correct, yes. 27 THE COURT: All right, so I do accept Official Court Reporters 1 1 this as a reasonably early guilty plea. 2 The facts, even though it is a common 3 assault, the facts are serious. 4 Mr. Panaktalok was partying with a friend 5 of his. She and he and some other friends drank 6 quite a lot of vodka and became intoxicated at 7 Mr. Panaktalok's apartment. While one of the 8 other individuals was out, having gone to the 9 liquor store and another was passed out, Mr. 10 Panaktalok essentially attacked his female 11 friend and began choking her with both hands. 12 He pushed her to the ground, he got on top of 13 her, she managed to get him off her and stop him 14 choking her, and then she managed to get away 15 and ran to the door but he ran after her, 16 punched her in the eye and began choking her 17 again. And she then got free and woke up the 18 individual who was passed out and they left the 19 apartment. So it's an aggravating factor that 20 Mr. Panaktalok attacked a guest in his home. 21 It's also aggravating that he choked her. 22 I do keep in mind that I am sentencing him for 23 an assault and not for the offence of choking 24 but choking is serious and, Mr. Panaktalok, you 25 should think about the fact that maybe just a 26 little bit more pressure and you could be 27 sitting here on a homicide charge because Official Court Reporters 2 1 choking is the kind of action that can easily 2 kill someone. So it may be just good fortune 3 that she wasn't seriously injured or died, and 4 that is something that you should think about. 5 However, I am sentencing Mr. Panaktalok not for 6 what could have happened but for what did 7 happen. 8 The submissions of Crown counsel included 9 the submission that there were no long lasting 10 injuries and in fact there is no indication of 11 any injury in what I have been told. 12 Another aggravating feature is that Mr. 13 Panaktalok was persistent in attacking his 14 friend. He didn't stop the first time that she 15 managed to get him off her. So it is a 16 situation that could have been much worse. If 17 indeed it was just caused by Mr. Panaktalok's 18 drinking then, Mr. Panaktalok, you know that the 19 thing to do is not to drink. Because if this is 20 how you behave when you drink, you are creating 21 situations of danger and you know that you may 22 go too far when you are drinking. So again, as 23 a young father, someone who has got a family to 24 support, you should be thinking about that so 25 that your children don't end up living without a 26 father because he is in jail and don't end up 27 with the grief of knowing that their father is Official Court Reporters 3 1 in jail. So again, these are all things that 2 you should be giving some thought to and 3 thinking about your family and putting them 4 first instead of drinking too much and then just 5 sitting back and seeing what happens which, as 6 in this case, is something very dangerous. 7 Sentencing on common assault is of course 8 very much tied to the facts of the case and the 9 situation of the offender. There is no general 10 range for offences of assault, especially in a 11 nonspousal context. 12 The fact that Mr. Panaktalok has a record 13 has to be taken into account. The only related 14 offence is a sexual assault in 2002, and he did 15 receive three years in jail for that, so 16 obviously it was a serious example of sexual 17 assault. Apart from that, the record really 18 consists of failures to comply with 19 undertakings, and the last of those was in 2006. 20 So he has not been convicted since 2006, and I 21 have to take that into account. And if indeed, 22 Mr. Panaktalok, you were doing better, and I 23 assume that you must have been doing better than 24 you had been because there are no convictions on 25 your record for the past four years, although 26 obviously from what has been said you had some 27 charges you had to deal with, but the important Official Court Reporters 4 1 thing is that you weren't convicted, obviously 2 you can, when you make the effort, stay out of 3 trouble so I hope that you will continue along 4 that line and not end up in the same situation 5 that you were in in August - drinking to excess 6 and attacking a friend, apparently for no 7 reason. There is certainly no reason that has 8 been put forward in the facts. 9 Stand up, please, Mr. Panaktalok. 10 Counsel have made a joint submission that 11 you be sentenced to time served. And 12 considering all of the circumstances, the guilty 13 plea and what has been said, in particular by 14 the Crown about how they would have proceeded 15 with the charge if you had not had other charges 16 that you were subsequently discharged on, I am 17 going to accept the joint submission. So the 18 sentence will be time served and the record 19 should reflect, though, that in effect it is a 20 four month sentence. But it will be time served 21 as of today. So you are free to go then. 22 I take it he is not being held on anything 23 else? 24 MS. SMALLWOOD: No, he isn't. 25 THE COURT: All right, that's fine then. 26 ------------------------------------- 27 Official Court Reporters 5 1 2 Certified to be a true and accurate transcript pursuant 3 to Rules 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules, 4 5 6 7 ____________________________ 8 Lois Hewitt, CSR(A), RPR, CRR Court Reporter 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 6
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