R. v. Brennan (J.M.), 2015 BCCA 114

• Judge: Chiasson, MacKenzie and Goepel, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Case Date: March 09, 2015
• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Citations: 2015 BCCA 114;(2015), 368 B.C.A.C. 253 (CA)

R. v. Brennan (J.M.) (2015), 368 B.C.A.C. 253 (CA);

    633 W.A.C. 253

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] B.C.A.C. TBEd. MR.045

Regina (respondent) v. Jonathan Michael Brennan (appellant)

(CA042457; 2015 BCCA 114)

Indexed As: R. v. Brennan (J.M.)

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Chiasson, MacKenzie and Goepel, JJ.A.

March 11, 2015.

Summary:

In November 2013, a sentencing judge acceded to a joint submission and the accused was sentenced as follows: (1) imprisonment of two years less a day for aggravated assault, in addition to nine months and eight days' credit for pre-sentence custody (1:1 basis), followed by two years' probation; (2) 45 days concurrent for possession of a knife for a dangerous purpose; (3) 30 days concurrent for breach of bail; and (4) 45 days concurrent for breach of probation. Following the release of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Summers in 2014, the accused appealed his sentence to seek enhanced credit for pre-sentence custody.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Pre-sentence custody was carefully considered in a calculation which resulted in the highest provincial jail sentence that could still be accompanied by a probation order. A probation order was an integral part of the joint submission and was designed to address the accused's rehabilitation and thus the protection of the public. Altering one term of the negotiated package would undermine the joint submission which was accepted by the sentencing judge.

Criminal Law - Topic 5813

Sentencing - Sentencing procedure and rights of the accused - Plea bargain or joint submission - Effect of - See paragraphs 19 to 33.

Criminal Law - Topic 5848.2

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Time already served (incl. bail) - See paragraphs 19 to 33.

Criminal Law - Topic 6204

Sentencing - Appeals - Variation of sentence - Grounds for refusing to vary sentence - See paragraphs 19 to 33.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Summers (S.) (2014), 456 N.R. 1; 316 O.A.C. 349; 2014 SCC 26, refd to. [para. 1].

R. v. Gladue (J.T.), [1999] 1 S.C.R. 688; 238 N.R. 1; 121 B.C.A.C. 161; 198 W.A.C. 161, refd to. [para. 8].

R. v. Ipeelee (M.) (2012), 428 N.R. 1; 288 O.A.C. 224; 318 B.C.A.C. 1; 541 W.A.C. 1; 2012 SCC 13, refd to. [para. 8].

R. v. Mathieu (P.) (2008), 373 N.R. 370; 2008 SCC 21, refd to. [para. 9].

R. v. Ladue (F.R.) (2011), 302 B.C.A.C. 93; 511 W.A.C. 93; 2011 BCCA 101, refd to. [para. 14].

R. v. Wells (J.W.) (2000), 250 N.R. 364; 250 A.R. 273; 213 W.A.C. 273; 2000 SCC 10, refd to. [para. 14].

R. v. Bradbury (E.T.) (2013), 339 B.C.A.C. 169; 578 W.A.C. 169; 2013 BCCA 280, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. Brown (J.D.) (2014), 362 B.C.A.C. 22; 622 W.A.C. 22; 2014 BCCA 439, refd to. [para. 21].

R. v. Ball (S.D.), [2014] O.A.C. Uned. 608; 2014 ONCA 676, refd to. [para. 23].

R. v. Geddes (J.), [2014] O.A.C. Uned. 745; 2014 ONCA 838, refd to. [para. 23].

R. v. Genao (R.A.), [2015] A.R. Uned. 20; 2015 ABCA 43, refd to. [para. 23].

R. v. Keyler (J.W.), [2015] B.C.A.C. Uned. 9; 2015 BCCA 48, refd to. [para. 23].

R. v. Maxwell-Smith (C.J.) (2013), 342 B.C.A.C. 67; 585 W.A.C. 67; 2013 YKCA 12, refd to. [para. 32].

R. v. McBeath (B.J.) (2014), 359 B.C.A.C. 110; 615 W.A.C. 110; 2014 BCCA 305, refd to. [para. 33].

R. v. Kazakoff (B.F.), [2014] B.C.A.C. Uned. 61; 2014 BCCA 422, refd to. [para. 33].

Counsel:

K. Neurauter, for the appellant;

E. Campbell, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard at Vancouver, B.C., on March 9, 2015, before Chiasson, MacKenzie and Goepel, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. MacKenzie, J.A., delivered the following oral reasons for judgment for the court on March 11, 2015.