Appeal from 8 year sentence following a manslaughter conviction by a jury. Stabbing death. Trial judge found that the accused’s conduct fell into the highest category of blameworthiness set out in Laberge. Numerous Gladue factors present. Trial judge found that the Gladue factors did not affect the sentence to be imposed.
Held: Appeal dismissed.
8 year sentence fit given the near-murder categorization of the manslaughter, notwithstanding that the trial judge erred in his approach to the Gladue principles. “It is an error to proceed on the basis that Gladue factors do or do not justify departure from a proportionate sentence, as the trial judge did. Instead, application of the Gladue analysis achieves a proportionate sentence.”
K. Teskey – Defence Counsel