Supreme Court

R. v. Moran, 2015 NWTSC 44 	File No. S-1-CR-2015-000004



IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES



IN THE MATTER OF:





HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN



- v -



AARON KENNETH MORAN








__________________________________________________________ Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence delivered by the Honourable Justice K. Shaner, sitting in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, on the 14th day of September,
2015.

__________________________________________________________








APPEARANCES:

Ms. J. Scott 	Counsel for the Crown

Mr. M. Michael 	Counsel for the accused



(Charge under s. 344(1)(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada)


1 	MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2015

2

3 	REASONS FOR SENTENCE

4 	SHANER J. (Orally):

5 	We are here for purpose of me delivering my

6 	Reasons for Sentence and the sentence with respect

7 	to the matter of The Queen and Aaron Moran.

8 	By way of history, on June 1st, 2015, Mr. Moran

9 	pled guilty to robbery, during which violence was

10 	used, contrary to s. 344(1)(b) of the Criminal Code.

11 	Sentencing was adjourned to allow for the

12 	preparation and distribution of a pre-sentence

13 	report, and this morning a Statement of Agreed Facts

14 	was read into the record and a conviction was

15 	entered.

16 	Robbery is considered a very serious offence,

17 	which is reflected in the fact that it carries with

18 	it a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. 	The

19 	Crown and the defence have agreed the circumstances

20 	of this case call for a period of incarceration of

21 	18 months to two years less a day followed by

22 	probation for a period of two years. 	Defence

23 	suggests that the lower end of that suggested range

24 	of incarceration, that is 18 months, is what is

25 	appropriate.

26 	The case law that was provided by the Crown and

27 	referred to and relied upon by both of the parties


1 	supports the conclusion, in my view, that the range

2 	that is suggested along with the period of probation

3 	proposed is appropriate in these circumstances.

4 	As I said, the circumstances of the offence

5 	were set out in the Agreed Statement of Facts which

6 	was marked as Exhibit 1, and I am just going to

7 	summarize those facts here so that there is some

8 	context to these reasons.

9 	On July 1st, 2014, Mr. Moran was at the

10 	victim's apartment which the victim shared with a

11 	roommate, Ms. Klengenberg. 	Mr. Moran asked the

12 	victim for a sip of alcohol but the victim said no.

13 	He then asked the victim for cigarettes. 	The victim

14 	had none, but then Ms. Klengenberg told the victim

15 	to get cigarettes from her bedroom. 	He complied

16 	with her request and he went to the bedroom to look

17 	for cigarettes.

18 	Mr. Moran followed him into the bedroom and he

19 	pushed the victim down to the bed from behind. 	He

20 	tried to take the victim's wallet and there was a

21 	struggle which ensued, as a result of which the

22 	victim sustained a number of injuries, most of which

23 	were depicted in the photographs comprising Exhibit

24 	S-2. 	These were a scrape to his forehead, bruising

25 	on his hands and cuts to his toes. 	He also suffered

26 	a sore right shoulder and bicep, and the shoulder

27 	pain took some months to resolve, according to the


1 	Victim Impact Statement and the Agreed Statement of

2 	Facts.

3 	Ultimately, Mr. Moran reached into the victim's

4 	pockets and took his wallet. 	The wallet contained

5 	at the time approximately $900.00 in cash.

6 	Mr. Moran took the cash and left the apartment. 	The

7 	victim called the police, who subsequently arrested

8 	Mr. Moran. 	Upon arrest, he had on his person

9 	$350.00 in cash. 	At the time of the offence,

10 	Mr. Moran was on probation for a theft conviction

11 	entered in September of 2013.

12 	In his Victim Impact Statement, which was

13 	marked as Exhibit S-3, the victim makes reference to

14 	the shoulder pain. 	He also indicates that he has

15 	difficulty sleeping and has to investigate every

16 	noise to reassure himself that there is not someone

17 	coming. 	He sleeps with a dresser blocking his

18 	bedroom door. 	Clearly, the impact of this has been

19 	significant for him.

20 	As noted, there was a pre-sentence report that

21 	was prepared to assist in this sentencing process,

22 	and it contains a great deal of information about

23 	Mr. Moran's background and his circumstances.

24 	Defence counsel indicated that Mr. Moran does

25 	not maintain the opinion he expressed to the author

26 	of the report, which is contained on the first page,

27 	that is, that the offence was not as serious as the


1 	police information suggests. 	His counsel stressed

2 	this morning that Mr. Moran understands and

3 	appreciates that this is a serious matter.

4 	He also asked to clarify what I presume is a

5 	typographical error indicating, at page 5 of the

6 	report, that Mr. Moran's mother's home community is

7 	Fort Simpson, when in fact it is Fort Smith.

8 	From the report and counsel's submissions, I

9 	have learned that Mr. Moran is a 33-year-old

10 	Aboriginal male. 	He was raised by his mother, and

11 	during his upbringing, he was exposed to a great

12 	deal of substance abuse and violence in his home.

13 	He has a long history of substance abuse, including

14 	addiction to crack cocaine starting at age 17. 	He

15 	reported to the author of the pre-sentence report,

16 	however, that he had been clean and sober for a

17 	month by that time, largely at the insistence of his

18 	spouse, with whom he has a young child.

19 	Mr. Moran has been with his current spouse for

20 	a number of years, and as I just noted, they have

21 	one child together. 	He enjoys being a father.

22 	Mr. Moran has another child, who is in his teens,

23 	from an earlier marriage. 	He does not have a close

24 	relationship with that child.

25 	The author of the report described Mr. Moran as

26 	being resistant to the idea of community-based

27 	programming for addictions. 	That said, he did


1 	express a willingness to participate in programming

2 	during any period of incarceration.

3 	Mr. Moran has a grade 10 education and a very

4 	limited employment history. 	This is no doubt due to

5 	a very lengthy criminal record which goes back 12

6 	years to 2003. 	There are groups of convictions

7 	approximately every two years. 	There are five

8 	convictions for property offences, ten offences

9 	against the administration of justice, one

10 	conviction for impaired driving, two convictions for

11 	drug possession, and one conviction for obstructing

12 	a peace officer. 	Mr. Moran cites his addiction as

13 	the underlying cause of his criminal conduct.

14 	The sentencing objectives set out in the

15 	Criminal Code apply in varying degrees of importance

16 	depending on the nature of the offence and the

17 	circumstances of the offender. 	They include

18 	denunciation, deterrence, both specific and general,

19 	where necessary, the separation of offenders from

20 	society, rehabilitation, reparation and the

21 	promotion of a sense of responsibility in offenders.

22 	The key principle of sentencing is that the

23 	sentence must reflect the seriousness of the offence

24 	and the degree of responsibility, or moral

25 	blameworthiness, of the offender.

26 	In robbery, it is appropriate that great

27 	emphasis is placed on specific and general


1 	deterrence as well as emphasis on public safety.

2 	This is reflected in comments made by Justice

3 	Richard in R. v. Brownlee, 2002 NWTSC 78, at

4 	para. 18, and in R. v. B.(E.), 2001 NWTSC 18, at

5 	para. 31, as well as those of Justice Vertes in

6 	R. v. Tsetta, 2002 NWTSC 80, at paras. 15 and 16.

7 	The principle of restraint is also important

8 	here. 	The principle of restraint is codified in

9 	s. 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code and it provides

10 	that a court must consider all available sanctions

11 	other than imprisonment that are reasonable in the

12 	circumstances, with particular attention to the

13 	circumstances of Aboriginal offenders.

14 	Mr. Moran is, as I noted, Aboriginal, and from

15 	the pre-sentence report it is clear that many of the

16 	systemic, or so-called Gladue factors, which are

17 	acknowledged as contributing to the

18 	overrepresentation of Aboriginal offenders in our

19 	correctional system, are present here. 	These

20 	include disconnection from an Aboriginal community

21 	and culture, poverty, substance abuse and family

22 	violence, all of which were present in Mr. Moran's

23 	upbringing.

24 	While Gladue factors may lead the sentencing

25 	judge to determine that the degree of moral

26 	blameworthiness of a particular offender is

27 	diminished, thus perhaps justifying a sentence that


1 	is less harsh, they must be balanced against the

2 	circumstances of the offence and the need to satisfy

3 	the relevant objectives of sentencing. 	Indeed, as

4 	Justice Vertes pointed out in at para. 14 of the

5 	Tsetta case, the Supreme Court of Canada in the

6 	Gladue decision itself recognized the reality that

7 	distinction in sentence based on those systemic

8 	factors is likely to disappear when dealing with

9 	serious crimes and serious offenders. 	The reality

10 	is that some crimes call out for a significant

11 	period of incarceration.

12 	Finally, Mr. Moran is a relatively young man

13 	who has expressed a desire to turn his life around.

14 	Rehabilitation is therefore still an important

15 	consideration in this analysis.

16 	There are, as pointed out by counsel, a number

17 	of aggravating factors in this case. 	The victim was

18 	elderly, he was attacked in his own home from

19 	behind, and the attack was unprovoked, deliberate

20 	and predatory.

21 	The accused has a lengthy and sustained

22 	criminal record with numerous convictions for

23 	property crimes and he was on probation for theft

24 	when this offence occurred. 	This reflects a

25 	significant lack of respect for the rights of other

26 	citizens and the law and it is aggravating.

27 	There are, however, a number of mitigating


1 	circumstances. 	The most mitigating is that

2 	Mr. Moran entered a guilty plea and he did so at a

3 	relatively early stage in these proceedings. 	Doing

4 	so saved the victim, who it appears has been

5 	traumatized by this event, from having to testify,

6 	and it saved the Court obvious time and expense.

7 	Mr. Moran's decision to accept responsibility and

8 	plead guilty is therefore worthy of significant

9 	weight.

10 	He also indicated this morning that he is sorry

11 	for what he did.

12 	Although he blames his addiction for this and

13 	other criminal conduct, it is Mr. Moran who

14 	ultimately is to blame for what happened here and he

15 	needs to deal with his addictions. 	This is a

16 	serious crime and it calls out for a sentence that

17 	achieves the goals of deterrence and public safety.

18 	The victim was injured physically and he remains

19 	traumatized.

20 	Whatever sentence is imposed must be

21 	significant enough to drive home to Mr. Moran that

22 	he cannot hurt and take from others to feed his own

23 	habits. 	At the same time, a sentence must also

24 	promote rehabilitation so that Mr. Moran can

25 	ultimately function in and be a productive member of

26 	our society.

27 	In my view, this will be achieved by imposing a


1 	period of incarceration of 18 months followed by two

2 	years of probation.

3 	Mr. Moran, can you please stand up.

4 	Upon being convicted of robbery and upon

5 	consideration of the circumstances and the nature of

6 	the offence as well as your own personal

7 	circumstances, I sentence you as follows. 	You are

8 	sentenced to a period of incarceration of 18 months.

9 	This will be followed by a period of two years of

10 	probation and I am going to tell you what the terms

11 	of that probation are in a moment. 	Do you

12 	understand?

13 	THE ACCUSED: 	Yes, I do.

14 	THE COURT: 	Okay, you can have a seat,

15 	Mr. Moran. 	The terms of your probation are going to

16 	be as follows:

17

18 	
 You are to report to Probation Services within

19 	two working days of your release and thereafter

20 	as directed by your probation officer.

21 	
 You are to keep the peace and be of good

22 	behaviour.

23 	
 You are to abstain from communicating, directly

24 	or indirectly, with the victim, Donald

25 	Hjelmeland.

26 	
 You are to appear in court as required.

27 	
 You are to notify the court or your probation


1 	officer in advance of any change of your name

2 	or address, change in your employment or your

3 	occupation; and

4 	
 You are to abstain from the consumption of

5 	alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances

6 	except with respect to medication that is

7 	prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner.

8

9 	Do you understand those terms?

10 	THE ACCUSED: 	Yes, I do.

11 	THE COURT: 	All right. 	Mr. Moran, I did

12 	notice that there are many many convictions on your

13 	record for breaching...

14 	THE ACCUSED: 	Yeah.

15 	THE COURT: 	...Court Orders, and it is

16 	really important that you comply. 	So if at any

17 	point you do not understand the terms of a Court

18 	Order or you are unsure, please, please check with

19 	your probation officer.

20 	THE ACCUSED: 	I will.

21 	THE COURT: 	There are also some ancillary

22 	Orders that were requested by the Crown. 	The Crown

23 	asked that I impose a firearms prohibition under

24 	s. 109, which I will do, and that will be in effect

25 	for 10 years.

26 	You will also be required to submit to the

27 	collection of bodily fluids for DNA analysis,


1 	Mr. Moran.

2 	Crown and defence, was there anything else?

3 	MS. SCOTT: 	I believe you already made the

4 	Order with respect to forfeiture.

5 	THE COURT: 	Yes, I did sign the Order.

6 	MS. SCOTT: 	No, there's nothing further,

7 	thank you.

8 	********

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14 	Certified Pursuant to Rule 723 of the Rules of Court
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17 	________________________________ Lynn Carrière
18 	Court Reporter

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