Two men made 5 sales of cocaine, over 2 months, to undercover police officer. In total, Godfrey sold 5.1 g for $510; Gervais sold 3.6 g for $430. Both pled guilty. Positive PSRs and mitigating factors. Issue was the application of starting point sentence of 3-years for commercial trafficking in cocaine on something more than a minimal scale, per Maskell, 1981 ABCA 50; Melnyk, 2014 ABCA 313.
Held: 90 days jail intermittent plus 30 months probation.
Applying Antic, 2017 SCC 27, objective of eliminating inconsistent application of federal law allows sentencing judges not only to be bound by directions of the ABCA but also to “look for guidance to appellate decisions of other jurisdictions.” Support for this comes from Berger JA in Beaudry, 2000 ABCA 243: “[The sentencing judge] was entitled to look to other judgments of this Court, however labelled, and to appellate pronouncements in other jurisdictions to inform the range of sentencing.”
K. Molle / J. Chevrefils – Defence Counsel