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Abstract: Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence
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R. v. Taggart 2013 NWTSC 02 S-1-CR2011000189 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - vs. - JUSTIN TAGGART _________________________________________________________ Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence by The Honourable Justice L. A. Charbonneau, at Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, on December 3rd A.D., 2012. _________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES: Mr. A. Godfrey: Counsel for the Crown Mr. A. Gill: Counsel for the Accused ---------------------------------------- Charge under s. 5(1) Controlled Drugs and Substances Act Official Court Reporters 1 THE COURT: Earlier this week, 2 Mr. Taggart entered guilty pleas to two counts 3 of trafficking in cocaine and today it is my 4 responsibility to impose a sentence on him for 5 those offences. 6 A joint submission has been presented by 7 counsel when we did the sentencing hearing and 8 for those who were here, obviously counsel and 9 Mr. Taggart, but also members of his family 10 who were there and are here today, they will 11 have heard that I expressed some concern about 12 that joint submission. But I do want to say 13 at the outset that after having given this 14 much much thought and consideration, I have 15 decided to follow the joint submission. In 16 other words, I have decided to agree with what 17 has been suggested by counsel. But now I am 18 going to give some additional reasons and I 19 hope that even though I have chosen not to 20 leave Mr. Taggart hanging for a few extra 21 minutes wondering what I would do with this 22 case, I do hope that he will listen carefully 23 to what I am about to say. 24 The circumstances of these offences are 25 quite straightforward. 26 In November 2010, the RCMP engaged in an 27 operation whereby they were investigating Official Court Reporters 1 1 street-level drug trafficking in the city of 2 Yellowknife. As part of this operation, they 3 decided to use undercover police officers. 4 Mr. Taggart was one of the targets who had 5 been identified prior to the undercover part 6 of the operation. 7 On November 9th, police learned from an 8 informant that Mr. Taggart was involved in 9 what is commonly referred to as a dial-a-dope 10 operation, meaning that he was selling cocaine 11 using a cell phone. 12 On two separate occasions, November 18th 13 and November 20th, the undercover police 14 officers were able to purchase cocaine from 15 him. Each transaction was set up by a very 16 simple exchange of text messages. The first 17 transaction was for two grams (the individual 18 baggies sold did not actually weigh a full 19 gram, but that is not unusual) and the officer 20 paid $200 for it. The second time the officer 21 asked for three grams and was able to purchase 22 those for $300. 23 Mr. Taggart was arrested some time later, 24 in March 2011, for these offences. I heard 25 that when the police dealt with him, 26 Mr. Taggart was polite and cooperative. He 27 was released on an undertaking with a number Official Court Reporters 2 1 of conditions, which included a curfew from 11 2 p.m. to 7 a.m., which applied unless he was 3 working nights, as well as a condition that he 4 not have a cell phone or any other device that 5 allows text messaging. I am told that he has 6 complied with those conditions between then 7 and now, a period of over a year and a half. 8 Crown counsel has gone further and has 9 advised that he has been able to confirm with 10 police that as far as they are aware through 11 their various channels, Mr. Taggart has 12 removed himself completely from this type of 13 activity. 14 Mr. Taggart does not have a criminal 15 record. 16 He was born in September 1991 which means 17 that he is 21 years old now and was 19 at the 18 time that he committed these offences. 19 He has grown up in a supportive and loving 20 environment and is very fortunate to still 21 have the full support of his family 22 notwithstanding what he has done. This 23 support is evidenced in letters that were 24 filed with the Court earlier this week. 25 The first is from his parents. They 26 obviously care about their son and support 27 him. Their letter says that he has always Official Court Reporters 3 1 lived with them up until June 2011, that he 2 did well in school, has worked full-time 3 consistently since he graduated from high 4 school, and that he has also been making 5 efforts to further his education through 6 distance learning. The letter also says that 7 they were shocked to hear about these charges. 8 They believe that Mr. Taggart's behaviour at 9 the time was completely out of character and 10 they also believe that he now understands the 11 seriousness of his actions and that he will 12 not do anything like this again. 13 There is another letter from a person 14 named Barb Watson who writes that she has 15 known Mr. Taggart for three years and knows 16 him as a very active person who enjoys the 17 outdoors, does not party or hang around in 18 bars. She has always known him to be a quiet, 19 hard working young man. 20 There is also a letter from the supervisor 21 of Facility Services at Stanton Yellowknife 22 Hospital that indicates that Mr. Taggart is 23 employed full-time at that facility. A copy 24 of an offer of employment that relates to his 25 current job has also been filed. The position 26 is described as a full-time casual position 27 which, according to the document, expires in Official Court Reporters 4 1 February 2013, but I know that those jobs are 2 often renewed from term to term. 3 I was also advised that Mr. Taggart has a 4 girlfriend and has been in that relationship 5 for two years. 6 The picture that this information paints 7 of Mr. Taggart is very positive and, by all 8 accounts, the picture of a stable, healthy, 9 hard working and functional young man - not 10 just since he was charged but going back 11 years. It is very difficult to understand 12 what brought him to the point where he would 13 even consider selling cocaine. It is very 14 disturbing to think that at the time he was 15 engaged in this type of activity, he was 16 living with supportive parents who knew him to 17 be hard working and was also, at that time, 18 considered by Ms. Watson to be a quiet and 19 responsible person. 20 What we know now is that in November 2010, 21 Mr. Taggart was living somewhat of a double 22 life. He presented himself as the person that 23 his parents had always known; yet, somehow, he 24 had become involved in an underworld that is 25 not only illegal but terribly destructive. He 26 became the target of a drug investigation and 27 when he was contacted by the undercover Official Court Reporters 5 1 officers, he responded to their text messages 2 and was able to bring them a few grams of 3 cocaine, both times, in fairly short order. 4 There is no explanation before me for this 5 conduct. Mr. Taggart was not selling to 6 support an addiction. I have not heard 7 anything about any particular financial 8 problems or particular stresses in his life at 9 the time. As I have already said, he lived at 10 home and for all intents and purposes 11 everything seemed to be fine. 12 Why then? To make quick money? Because 13 of bad influences and wanting to fit in? To 14 impress new so-called "friends"? To rebel? 15 To prove something? I don't know. There are 16 more constructive ways to rebel and more 17 convincing ways to prove oneself and I hope 18 that he understands that now. 19 But whatever the reason was, this conduct 20 has taken Mr. Taggart quite literally to the 21 doorsteps of a jail. And I sure hope that my 22 acceptance of the joint submission that was 23 presented to me in this case will not leave 24 him or anyone else with the wrong impression 25 or minimize the seriousness of his conduct. 26 Because this conduct is very serious. It is 27 punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment, Official Court Reporters 6 1 which is saying something. If it were not for 2 the joint submission and for the combination 3 of circumstances that counsel have put before 4 me and have convinced me, somewhat reluctantly 5 I must say, to accept it, Mr. Taggart would 6 not be leaving this building through the same 7 door he walked in. He would be leaving 8 through the back door in custody and under 9 escort and he would be heading to the North 10 Slave Correctional Centre which would become 11 his home for the next couple of years. He 12 would not be the first young man without a 13 criminal record to leave the courthouse that 14 way for having trafficked in hard drugs. 15 Counsel have jointly submitted that a fit 16 sentence for Mr. Taggart is a jail term 17 between 18 months and two years less a day, 18 served in the community under the auspices of 19 a conditional sentence order, and followed by 20 probation for one year. 21 As a sentencing Judge, I am bound by the 22 law that is stated by our Court of Appeal. 23 One of the principles in sentencing law is 24 that a joint submission has to be given 25 serious considerations by the sentencing Court 26 and should be followed unless the sentencing 27 Judge finds that it is clearly unreasonable or Official Court Reporters 7 1 unfit. This was decided by our Court of 2 Appeal in R. v. Wong 2007 NWTCA 5 which 3 essentially incorporated the principles set 4 out in R. v. G.W.C. 2000 ABCA 333. 5 The approach has been adopted in other 6 jurisdictions as well, if described slightly 7 differently. For example, in Ontario it has 8 been said that a joint submission should be 9 followed unless it is contrary to the public 10 interest and, if accepted, would bring the 11 administration of justice into disrepute. 12 R. v. Dorsey (1999) 123 O.A.C. 340. 13 Of course the ultimate decision on 14 sentencing is the sentencing Judge's, not 15 counsel. But our Court of Appeal's direction 16 is that when a joint submission is presented, 17 it should be followed unless completely 18 unreasonable or outside of the range. The 19 reasons that joint submissions are to be 20 afforded a lot of weight by Judges in the 21 exercise of their discretionary power are 22 explained in those cases, and I will not go 23 over those reasons again. 24 There is, of course, a difference between 25 the Court giving a joint submission serious 26 consideration and the Court abdicating its 27 ultimate responsibility to impose a fit Official Court Reporters 8 1 sentence. Courts cannot be seen and should 2 not be seen as rubber stamping a position 3 simply because it is jointly presented if that 4 position is unfit. Courts have to satisfy 5 themselves that the position is not 6 unreasonable. 7 For any given offence committed by any 8 offender, there is always a range of sentences 9 that will be fit. There is rarely just one 10 fit sentence for a crime. 11 When considering a joint submission, the 12 exercise that the Judge has to undertake (if 13 he or she has some concerns about the joint 14 position) is to decide whether those concerns 15 come simply from disagreeing with counsel 16 about where the sentence should be within the 17 available range, or, whether it comes from the 18 conclusion that the position is actually 19 unreasonable. And although it is simple to 20 say the words, the exercise itself can be 21 somewhat delicate. 22 As I have alluded to, it would have been 23 apparent, I expect, from my exchange with both 24 counsel during submissions, that the joint 25 submission creates some discomfort for me. 26 The reason for that is that I do find it 27 somewhat difficult to reconcile the position Official Court Reporters 9 1 with the jurisprudence in this jurisdiction. 2 It causes me some concern, in part, because of 3 the principle of parity, when I compare this 4 case, for example with the Territorial Court's 5 decision in R. v. Gosselin 2011 NWTTC 15 and 6 this Court's decisions in R. v. Turner 2006 7 NWTSC 67 and R. v. Basson 2000 NWTSC 12. The 8 concern is not just about parity, though, 9 because I do recognize, and it is important 10 always to remember, that sentencing is a 11 highly individualized process and rarely are 12 two cases exactly alike. The concern comes 13 also because of what this Court and others 14 have said about the seriousness of trafficking 15 in hard drugs; the sentencing objectives that 16 are of particular concern and importance when 17 dealing with sentencing of those who engage in 18 this activity; the moral blameworthiness that 19 attaches to people who commit these offences; 20 and importantly, the ravages that this 21 activity has caused in our communities. I 22 know that counsel must recognize this because 23 they have realistically acknowledged that this 24 position does constitute a departure from 25 sentences that are ordinarily imposed in these 26 cases in this jurisdiction. 27 For example, the Territorial Court was Official Court Reporters 10 1 dealing with a situation, not identical but 2 not completely different either from this one, 3 in R. v. Gosselin. In that case, the defence 4 asked for a conditional sentence and the Crown 5 asked for actual incarceration. Judge 6 Malakoe, in very thorough reasons addressing 7 the various applicable sentencing principles, 8 declined the request for a conditional 9 sentence in that case. 10 Those same principles led this Court to 11 reject a joint submission for a conditional 12 sentence in R. v. Desjarlais 2007 NWTSC 23. 13 The facts were very different. That case 14 involved the possession for the purpose of 15 trafficking of 21 one-gram pieces of crack 16 cocaine and some cash. The accused was in his 17 60s but he had no criminal record. He had, up 18 to then, been an upstanding citizen of 19 previous good character. So the facts were 20 different. 21 The reason that I bring that case up is, 22 because in giving his reasons for rejecting 23 the conditional sentence that was being 24 jointly proposed, Justice Richard of this 25 Court explained why he considered that a 26 conditional sentence in that case would be 27 inconsistent with the fundamental purpose and Official Court Reporters 11 1 principles of sentencing. 2 One of the things that he noted was that 3 the sentencing was not just about the offender 4 before him but that the sentencing was about 5 the harm that this activity causes in the 6 community, about the harm that the drugs that 7 were found in Mr. Desjarlais' possession would 8 have caused if they had made it to the 9 streets. And in his comments, Justice Richard 10 included several examples that are compelling 11 and are not theoretical. He spoke of real 12 cases, actual situations that have happened 13 here in this community. 14 I will suggest, and it may seem unusual 15 but I will suggest, Mr. Taggart, that you take 16 the time to read that case. I don't usually 17 give reading suggestions to people that I 18 sentence; in fact, I have never done it. But 19 I do so today simply because in that decision, 20 as other Judges did in other cases, Justice 21 Richard talked about examples from this 22 community, Mr. Taggart's community, and talked 23 about the impact that the trafficking of hard 24 drugs have had. 25 It must be understood that this type of 26 activity causes harm to a lot of people and 27 places everyone at risk. It is activity that Official Court Reporters 12 1 now puts Mr. Taggart and his loved ones at 2 risk. It could be his house that gets broken 3 into next. It could be his girlfriend or 4 family member or a friend who gets assaulted 5 on the street because someone wants to steal 6 their phone or laptop or whatever else to get 7 access to quick money. The community is 8 harmed by this and the community is not just 9 other faceless nameless people. The community 10 is not just others. 11 All that being said, and having given this 12 a lot of thought since Monday, I cannot say 13 that following the joint submission that has 14 been presented in this case would be contrary 15 to the public interest or would bring the 16 administration of justice into disrepute given 17 the whole of the circumstances that I have 18 heard, which include Mr. Taggart's age now and 19 at the time that he committed these offences; 20 the fact that while there were two separate 21 incidents they were very closely connected in 22 time; the guilty pleas; Crown counsel's 23 explanations about the extensive resources 24 that would have had to be spent to prosecute 25 this case given the present location of all of 26 the witnesses; what defence counsel has said 27 about there being real triable issues in this Official Court Reporters 13 1 case, which is something that the Crown did 2 not dispute; Mr. Taggart's current situation 3 and his obviously very good prospects 4 for rehabilitation; his lack of criminal 5 record; and his demonstrated ability to comply 6 with strict release terms while he was on bail 7 since March of 2011. It is the cumulative 8 impact of all of these circumstances that has 9 persuaded me that the joint submission, 10 despite the concerns that I have talked about, 11 cannot and should not be characterized as 12 unreasonable. And so my duty, in law, is to 13 follow it. 14 But, for the sentence to be consistent 15 with the fundamental principles and purposes 16 of sentencing, the conditional sentence must 17 have a punitive effect. It must create severe 18 restrictions to Mr. Taggart's freedom. 19 Conditional sentences are not like probation 20 and they should not feel like probation, and 21 the Supreme Court of Canada made this point 22 very clearly in R. v. Proulx 2000 SCC 5. 23 Because it is a jail term. The conditions 24 have to be strict and they have to be punitive 25 in order to address the sentencing objectives 26 that they are meant to address and to uphold 27 the principles of sentencing, particularly, Official Court Reporters 14 1 the principle of proportionality. 2 Stand up, please, Mr. Taggart. 3 Mr. Taggart, for these two offences, I 4 have decided to sentence you to a jail term of 5 two years less one day on each count but 6 served together, at the same time. I have 7 decided to agree with the request that has 8 been made that you be permitted to serve that 9 sentence by remaining within the community. 10 That will be followed by probation for one 11 year as has been suggested by counsel. 12 There are a lot of conditions I am about 13 to explain so you may sit down - this is going 14 to take a while. 15 Now just so you understand, I have mostly 16 followed the conditions that were suggested by 17 counsel. You will see I have not followed 18 exactly the wording that they have suggested 19 and I have added some things. They are 20 restrictive conditions. They are punitive. 21 But that is deliberate because it is that or a 22 jail cell. And no matter how restrictive I 23 have made these conditions, it is not going to 24 be as restrictive as being in jail is. I know 25 that you understand that. 26 I am going to, for the record, read what 27 the conditions are and then if there are any Official Court Reporters 15 1 questions I will give counsel an opportunity 2 to address them. 3 First, there are statutory conditions. 4 They are the ones set out at paragraph (1) of 5 Section 742.3 of the Criminal Code. This will 6 be written down and explained to you, 7 Mr. Taggart, I just have to read them in for 8 the record. 9 The first is that you have to keep the 10 peace and be of good behavior. The second is 11 that you appear before the Court when required 12 to do so by the Court. The third is that you 13 report to a supervisor, this means a 14 conditional sentence supervisor, within two 15 working days of today's date and thereafter as 16 that supervisor will require. The next is 17 that you remain within the jurisdiction of the 18 Court, so in the Northwest Territories, unless 19 written permission to go outside that 20 jurisdiction is obtained from the Court or 21 from the supervisor. And, finally, that you 22 notify the Court or your conditional sentence 23 supervisor in advance of any change of name or 24 address, and promptly notify the Court or the 25 supervisor of any change of employment or 26 occupation. 27 These are mandatory any time a Court gives Official Court Reporters 16 1 a conditional sentence to someone. Some of 2 the other conditions that I am about to read, 3 especially with respect to address, are 4 actually more restrictive than that so you 5 always follow the more restrictive one when 6 there is an overlap. 7 As far as optional conditions, the first 8 three are going to be applicable for the whole 9 duration of the conditional sentence. The 10 first is that you will complete 240 hours of 11 community service work. Those are to be 12 completed within 18 months of today's date. 13 That's under the law, it is not my 14 requirement, and that is to be completed under 15 the supervision and to the satisfaction of 16 your conditional sentence supervisor. I am 17 not going to put any other terms as far as X 18 numbers of hours have to be completed by such 19 and such date, I think that better to leave 20 that to be worked out between you and your 21 conditional sentence supervisor. 22 The second one that will be in force the 23 whole time is that you participate in any 24 treatment or counselling program recommended 25 by your conditional sentence supervisor. It 26 may be that none is needed, that's just a 27 fairly standard clause and that is Official Court Reporters 17 1 rehabilitative. That is designed to help you 2 understand what happened here and help you 3 ensure that it doesn't happen again. 4 The third one is similar to one that you 5 have been under for some time - that you not 6 be in possession or use a cell phone, 7 Blackberry, or other device capable of 8 electronic text messaging except if required 9 for employment purposes and if so, with the 10 prior written permission of your conditional 11 sentence supervisor. 12 Those conditions will be in force the 13 whole time. 14 The second clause deals with what has been 15 referred to as house arrest in the 16 submissions. I am going to make that 17 applicable for one year. So until the 6th of 18 December 2013, you will be on house arrest 19 which means that you must be inside your 20 residence at all times, subject to the 21 exceptions that I will mention later. And 22 when the Clerk of the Court goes over this 23 with you, she will ask you what your current 24 address is, and so we start off with that, and 25 then other conditions follow if there is ever 26 a change in that. 27 As part of that, and for the purpose of Official Court Reporters 18 1 facilitating the enforcement of that order, 2 you will not change your address without the 3 written permission of your conditional 4 sentence supervisor. You will have on your 5 person, at all times you are not in your 6 residence, a copy of your conditional sentence 7 order. This is simply so people can check. 8 You will present yourself at the door of your 9 residence or come to the phone if you are 10 asked to do so by a peace officer or your 11 conditional sentence supervisor duly so to 12 ensure compliance. You can understand that 13 they cannot be there all the time. But if 14 they are checking you have to be. Because if 15 you don't answer, they will assume that you 16 are not there. And the fourth one is, because 17 I understand there is some variation in your 18 work schedule, you will provide every month a 19 copy of your work schedule to your conditional 20 sentence supervisor and advise that person of 21 any changes to that schedule. That is because 22 I want to make sure that your supervisor knows 23 when you are supposed to be not in your house 24 working. 25 Now, the requirement that you be in your 26 residence will be subject to the following 27 exceptions provided that you travel directly Official Court Reporters 19 1 from your residence to that location and 2 directly back. I thought of putting 3 timeframes but I think that is just asking for 4 difficulties. If you are going somewhere that 5 you are entitled to go under these exceptions, 6 you will go from house to place and from place 7 back to house. Do you understand? 8 These are the purposes for which you will 9 be permitted not to be in your residence: 10 For the purpose of going to work or for 11 health care emergencies involving you or 12 someone who needs your immediate assistance to 13 get emergency medical treatment; to attend 14 religious services, if that's something that 15 you do; to perform the community service work 16 that you have been ordered to perform; to 17 attend an educational institution within the 18 Northwest Territories with the written 19 permission of your conditional sentence 20 supervisor; to attend counselling that has 21 been recommended by your conditional sentence 22 supervisor; to vote at a municipal, federal or 23 territorial election - I don't know that we 24 will have one but you will have the right to 25 vote if that comes up; with the written 26 permission of your written conditional 27 sentence supervisor to attend other programs Official Court Reporters 20 1 and services deemed appropriate by your 2 conditional sentence supervisor. This is to 3 give your supervisor some flexibility to a 4 certain extent. The last one is to attend to 5 shop for the necessities of life for a total 6 of no more than three hours each week. I have 7 made it three and not four because I think 8 that is workable. 9 Now I will be honest with you, I thought 10 of putting a clause in there requiring you to 11 actually plan this in advance with your 12 conditional sentence supervisor. I have 13 decided against that because it may be that 14 too many conditions will be counterproductive. 15 The reason that I was considering that, 16 Mr. Taggart, is that for all intents and 17 purposes this is a jail sentence and I did not 18 want this three hours to turn into some sort 19 of license to go whenever you want and then 20 using that condition as the reason for being 21 out. So I suggest that you keep track of when 22 you are going out under that clause and so if 23 anyone comes asking you, you can explain how 24 you have used it. So that takes care of the 25 house arrest. 26 The next condition is not one counsel has 27 suggested. I know it is a punitive condition Official Court Reporters 21 1 but, again, it is not nearly as restrictive as 2 what you would be subjected to if you were 3 inside a jail. 4 For that first year, you will abstain from 5 consuming alcohol. In a jail you couldn't so 6 there is no reason why you should be inside 7 your house having a party when you are 8 supposed to be in serving a jail term. 9 The next part is for the second half. So 10 that is from December 7th, 2013 until the end 11 of this order. 12 For that period of time you will no longer 13 be on house arrest but you will abide by a 14 curfew and be inside your residence between 11 15 p.m. and 6 a.m. except for employment 16 purposes. So, again, for the purposes of 17 enforcement of that part of the order, again 18 you will not change addresses without the 19 written permission of your conditional 20 sentence supervisor. You will come to the 21 door of your residence or come to the phone if 22 you are requested to do so by a peace officer 23 or your conditional sentence supervisor for 24 the purpose of ensuring your compliance with 25 the curfew. My understanding is that they are 26 not in the habit of phoning every night at 3 27 a.m. to wake you up to make sure that you are, Official Court Reporters 22 1 but it is possible depending on how things are 2 going that they will want to check compliance 3 with the curfew and if so, you will have to 4 cooperative. If you are required to work 5 during your curfew hours, because you have 6 permission to do that, you will provide in 7 advance a copy of your work schedule to your 8 conditional sentence supervisor. 9 And then, finally, after the expiration of 10 that you will be on probation for one year and 11 there will be some conditions. And here, for 12 the most part, I have followed the suggestion 13 of counsel with one exception. 14 For the period of probation you will keep 15 the peace and be of good behavior; appear 16 before the Court when required to do so by the 17 Court; you will report to your assigned 18 probation officer. Your conditional sentence 19 supervisor will help up with that. I am not 20 sure if the same people effect the same task. 21 It may be this is seamless, it may be the same 22 person, but you have to be under the 23 supervision of a probation officer for that 24 part. You will advise your probation officer 25 if you have any changes in name, address, 26 residence, or employment. You will remain 27 within the jurisdiction of the Court unless Official Court Reporters 23 1 you get permission to go outside the 2 jurisdiction from the Court or from your 3 probation officer. You will reside at such a 4 place as may be approved in writing by your 5 probation officer. Again, if there is a move, 6 you need to clear that with them first. And 7 there will be a continuation of the condition 8 that you attend treatment or counselling as 9 recommended by the probation officer. 10 The last thing that I will add to this, 11 this is over a fairly long period of time, is 12 I will put a requirement that you do some 13 community service work under that term as 14 well. I am not going to make it 240 hours, I 15 am going to make it 100 hours. Again, I don't 16 know whether your conditional sentence 17 supervisor (and later probation officer) if 18 something can be worked out that will be truly 19 useful to the community and might even include 20 raising the awareness of people your age or 21 around your age about this problem and the 22 problems it causes. 23 The Crown has also sought ancillary 24 orders. There will be a DNA order. This is a 25 primary designated offence. 26 There will be a firearms prohibition order 27 that will commence today and expire ten years Official Court Reporters 24 1 from now. 2 I will also impose what is called a victim 3 of crime surcharge that is provided for in the 4 Criminal Code. It is $100. This is something 5 that can be ordered as part of a sentence for 6 an indictable offence. The money goes to a 7 fund to assist victims of crime. This is not 8 a victimless crime so I consider since 9 Mr. Taggart has been working and will continue 10 to be working, there is no basis to waive it. 11 There will also be an order for the 12 destruction of any exhibits that were seized 13 in this investigation at the expiration of the 14 appeal period. 15 All of this will be explained to you again 16 by the clerk. It is very important that you 17 remember, as your counsel pointed out, that 18 any breach of any of the conditions of the 19 conditional sentence order, one of the 20 possible consequences of that is that the rest 21 of the sentence gets served inside a jail. 22 And I can tell you, it would of course depend 23 on the circumstances and the explanations for 24 the breach, but people who are bound by a 25 conditional sentence order are on very very 26 thin ice if they breach some of the 27 conditions. Do you understand? Official Court Reporters 25 1 THE ACCUSED: (Affirmative nod). 2 THE COURT: All right. Is there 3 anything that I have overlooked or that I have 4 not made clear? 5 MR. GILL: Not from my perspective, 6 thank you. 7 MR. GODFREY: Neither am I, thank you. 8 THE COURT: Mr. Taggart, I will say 9 again you are very very fortunate to have 10 people that support you. I see a lot of 11 people come to court being sentenced without 12 any support. And there are also many people 13 who don't have the chance of having grown up 14 in a loving, supportive environment. So you 15 have a lot going for you so don't waste it. I 16 really really hope I never see you again in a 17 courtroom. It would very disappointing and I 18 am sure it would be crushing for those people 19 who are here today supporting you. But I do 20 wish you luck. We will close court. 21 ------------------------------------- 22 Certified to be a true and accurate transcript pursuant 23 to Rules 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules, 24 25 26 ____________________________ 27 Lois Hewitt, Court Reporter Official Court Reporters 26
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