Decision Content
R v Greenland, 2018 NWTSC 54 S-1-CR-2018-000001
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
IN THE MATTER OF:
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
- v -
JAYDEN GREENLAND
Transcript of the Reasons for Decision delivered by The Honourable Justice L.A. Charbonneau, sitting in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, on the 12th day of July 2018.
APPEARANCES:
Mr. A. Godfrey Counsel for the Crown
Mr. P. Harte Counsel for the Accused
(Charges under s. 268(2), 264.1(1)(A), 88(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada)
1 THE COURT: Jayden Greenland is charged
2 with aggravated assault, uttering death threats,
3 and for having in his possession a knife for a
4 purpose dangerous to public peace.
5 These charges stem from events alleged to
6 have happened on October 7, 2017, in Fort
7 McPherson. Mr. Greenland was arrested on October
8 8th for these matters. He was ordered detained
9 after a show cause hearing held on October 16th,
10 2017, and was detained on a secondary ground. He
11 was committed to stand trial after a preliminary
12 hearing held in December 2017.
13 He had initially elected to have his trial
14 by judge and jury, but later re-elected to have
15 it before a judge sitting alone. Originally,
16 based on the availabilities provided by counsel,
17 his trial was scheduled to proceed in December
18 2018. Through his counsel, at an appearance in
19 regular criminal chambers, Mr. Greenland
20 expressed concern about this and the delay. The
21 Court asked the Crown to review its
22 availabilities and see whether it could be
23 available for an earlier trial date as defence
24 had provided a number of availabilities during
25 the fall. The Crown did send in revised
26 availabilities, and on that basis, the trial was
27 moved up a few months, and it is now scheduled to
|
1 |
proceed commencing September 19th, 2018, |
in |
|
2 |
Inuvik. |
|
|
3 |
Mr. Greenland is now eligible for a |
bail |
|
4 |
review under Section 525 of the Criminal |
Code. |
|
5 |
He applies for release based on a change |
of |
6 circumstances since his original bail hearing.
7 At the hearing earlier this week, the Crown
8 conceded, quite fairly, that there had been a
9 change in circumstances since the original bail
10 hearing, but it does maintain its opposition to
11 Mr. Greenland's release.
12 The allegations are that on the date of
13 these events, there were two gatherings happening
14 in Fort McPherson. One was a birthday party,
15 which was mostly alcohol-free, taking place at
16 House 221. The alleged victim, Abraham Stewart,
17 was at that party. He was 17 years old at the
18 time. Another person, about the same age, named
19 Tony Alexie was also there. Mr. Stewart and
20 Mr. Alexie were consuming alcohol. The second
21 gathering was at House 226. The accused and
22 others were at a party at that house and were
23 consuming alcohol.
24 At about 2:00 in the morning, Mr. Alexie was
25 not feeling well, and he decided to go home.
26 Outside, he was confronted by the accused. The
27 accused pushed him around. Mr. Alexie went back
1 inside House 221 and asked Jessica Blake for
2 help. Ms. Blake asked Mr. Stewart to walk
3 Mr. Alexie home. Both of them went outside and
4 were, again, confronted by the accused. An
5 argument started which escalated to a physical
6 fight between the accused and Mr. Stewart. It is
7 alleged that punches were exchanged and that the
8 two grappled with each other and were holding
9 onto each other. The accused at one point had
10 his right arm around Mr. Stewart's lower back.
11 It is alleged that using his left arm, he stabbed
12 Mr. Stewart repeatedly. Others intervened and
13 pulled them apart. It is alleged that the
14 accused said to Mr. Stewart he was going to kill
15 him.
16 Ms. Blake took the knife away from the
17 accused, but it is alleged he pulled out a second
18 one and uttered a threat to those present that he
19 would kill them all. People then dispersed.
20 Ms. Blake took Mr. Stewart to the health centre
21 and reported the incident. Police received the
22 complaint shortly after 2 AM.
23 At the hearing this week, photos were filed
24 showing multiple stab wounds to Mr. Stewart's
25 back. There were nine stab wounds in total, and
26 they were on the right side of his chest, the
27 right side of his back, and his side under his
1 right arm as well as his abdomen. He required
2 stitches and received medical treatment in Inuvik
3 for those injuries.
4 The accused has a criminal record of some
5 significance despite his young age. He has
6 multiple convictions for failing to comply with
7 court orders. He also has other convictions that
8 give rise to concerns. He has a recent
9 conviction for pointing a firearm. That offence
10 occurred in July 2017, and he was sentenced for
11 it in August 2017, just a few months before the
12 events giving rise to this charge. He has an
13 assault from 2017 and another assault conviction
14 from 2015 as well as a conviction for resisting
15 arrest in 2015. There are also numerous other
16 convictions on his record. He was bound by two
17 separate probation orders at the time of these
18 alleged events.
19 At the bail hearing held in October 2017,
20 the Crown indicated its concerns were based on
21 the secondary ground. The prosecutor at that
22 hearing said the Crown may consent to the release
23 subject to a suitable surety being proposed. The
24 proposed surety at that point was the accused's
25 mother. It was proposed that he would live with
26 her in Edmonton. She testified by phone at the
27 bail hearing.
1 The reasons of the justice of the peace show
2 that, initially, the justice of the peace was of
3 the view that the release plan may have some
4 advantages in that it would have the accused
5 reside in a location far away from the witnesses
6 in this matter. However, it is clear from the
7 Reasons that the justice of the peace was not
8 impressed by the testimony of the surety as far
9 as her ability to keep the accused out of trouble
10 or the prospects of having him returned to Fort
11 McPherson to be tried.
12 The plan being proposed now is very
13 different as is the proposed surety. This time,
14 the proposed surety is Annie Kaye. She is the
15 accused's grandmother. She testified by phone
16 earlier this week at some length. She and her
17 husband are retired and live an alcohol-free
18 life. They have three camps where they propose
19 to spend most of their time this summer. The
20 proposed plan is to have the accused be with them
21 at those camps and to keep him occupied with
22 various tasks that need to be done at those
23 locations.
24 Two of these camps are accessible by road
25 and, admittedly, are in areas where other people
26 stay. There is a fair bit of traffic between
27 those locations and Fort McPherson. The third is
1 accessible only by boat and is some distance down
2 the river from Fort McPherson.
3 Ms. Kaye also testified about some of the
4 issues that Mr. Greenland faced growing up about
5 his parents' alcohol abuse, lack of guidance and
6 supervision, and other things that she believes
7 are at the root of his current difficulties. It
8 is obvious that she cares deeply for him and that
9 she will continue to support him and do what she
10 can to assist him. That is very much to her
11 credit. She is obviously concerned about the
12 accused and the trouble he has been getting
13 himself into. She wants to give him the
14 opportunity to do something more positive than
15 just sitting idly in jail.
16 She says if he does not listen to her or
17 does not do what she and her husband say, she
18 will call the police. She has called the police
19 on her own son when he has misbehaved in the
20 past. I will say that I have no difficulty
21 believing that she would do her duty as a surety,
22 and she would report to the authorities if the
23 accused did not obey all his conditions.
24 The Crown fairly conceded that unlike what
25 was the case in the last show cause hearing,
26 there are no concerns with this surety. The
27 differences in the plan and the strength of the
1 surety do constitute a material change in
2 circumstances. The Crown continues to have
3 concerns about public safety. The prosecutor
4 made reference during the review hearing to
5 concerns that the local RCMP have. These are
6 related, in part, to rumours of comments that
7 were said to have been made by the accused to the
8 effect that he intended to carry out the threat
9 that he is alleged to have made at the time of
10 the altercation with Mr. Stewart.
11 This matter, as I understand, was
12 investigated by police, and they felt they could
13 not lay a charge. It goes without saying that if
14 police felt the information was insufficient to
15 give rise to reasonable and probable grounds to
16 believe an offence had been committed and base a
17 charge on, I can hardly rely on that information
18 as part of these proceedings. So that aspect of
19 what I have been told, I have disregarded.
20 I also heard other concerns expressed,
21 through the prosecutor, from some of the RCMP
22 members in Fort McPherson, about having received
23 several calls for service that had involved this
24 accused in the recent past. Their perception
25 that there is an escalation in his behaviour,
26 that he is increasingly showing lack of concern
27 for others. Again, I must be very careful about
1 attaching any weight to this kind of information.
2 Defence did not object to it being presented, and
3 I did not hear full submissions about the
4 admissibility of this type of information.
5 The rules of evidence are relaxed at a bail
6 hearing but up to a point only. I have attached
7 very little weight to this information. However,
8 I do recognize that the accused's criminal
9 record, in particular, the recent entries, do
10 show an escalation in his conduct, and that is a
11 proper consideration for me in making this
12 decision.
13 I am also left with very, very serious
14 allegations. The second ground of detention is
15 concerned with public safety. More specifically,
16 the question is whether the accused's detention
17 is necessary for the protection or safety of the
18 public, including any victim or witness, having
19 regard to all the circumstances including any
20 substantial likelihood that the accused will, if
21 released, commit an offence or interfere with the
22 administration of justice.
23 A person with an extensive criminal record
24 is still presumed innocent and still has the
25 constitutionally protected right to reasonable
26 bail, as much so as a person who does not have a
27 criminal record. But as a matter of practical
1 reality, where someone has accumulated as
2 extensive a criminal record as this accused has,
3 including numerous failures to comply with court
4 orders, and when there are recent convictions for
5 crimes of violence, that raises serious issues as
6 far as whether conditions included in a court
7 order can alleviate public safety concerns that
8 arise.
9 The release plan has some merit and
10 strength, but two of the three cabins are in
11 locations where other people go and where alcohol
12 may be found. They are also areas that are
13 accessible by road and areas that see
14 considerable traffic to and from the community
15 where the witnesses to be called at this trial
16 reside. In addition, inevitably, the surety and
17 her husband would need to come into town for
18 supplies from time to time. The bottom line is I
19 can order, as part of release conditions, that
20 the accused always be in the presence of one of
21 his grandparents. I can order him not to drink.
22 I can order him to follow their directions and
23 obey their rules. But the success of the plan is
24 entirely dependent on the accused abiding by
25 those conditions. Even the surety said, in her
26 testimony, "It will be up to him".
27 The problem is that the risk is not simply
1 that he will disobey his grandmother. The risk
2 is that he will disobey his grandmother and
3 behave in the manner he has behaved in the recent
4 past and commit further offences.
5 I am convinced of the sincerity of the
6 proposed surety, and I know she would do
7 everything she can to keep her grandson out of
8 trouble. But as she said herself in her
9 evidence, she has always been stern with him, and
10 he knows it. She has talked to him about things.
11 She has been in his life, and despite her
12 efforts, whatever she has told him and however
13 stern she has been with him, she does not appear
14 to have been able to influence or control his
15 behaviour.
16 As I said, these allegations are very
17 serious. The trial is a few months away. If it
18 proceeds as scheduled, it will have taken place
19 within less than a year of the events giving rise
20 to this charge. As I said in giving my decision
21 on the Sunrise bail review earlier this
22 afternoon, a trial in this Court cannot be
23 expected to be accommodated as quickly as a trial
24 in the Territorial Court.
25 The surety has the best of intentions. And
26 I heard and I considered her plea to the Court to
27 give this accused a chance to be released pending
1 trial and do some productive things. But despite
2 her best intentions, I am not satisfied that the
3 plan adequately addresses the public safety
4 concerns that exist in this case and all the
5 circumstances. The application is dismissed and
6 the detention order will continue.
7
8 PROCEEDINGS ADJOURNED
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
1 CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPT:
2
3
I,
Roxanne M. Johanson, certify that the
4 foregoing pages are a complete and accurate
5 transcript of the proceedings taken down by me in
6 shorthand and transcribed from my shorthand notes
7 to the best of my skill and ability.
8 Dated at the City of Calgary, Province of
9 Alberta, this 21st day of September 2018.
10
11
12
13
14
15 Roxanne M. Johanson, CSR(A)
16 Official Court Reporter
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27