R. v. N.B.L., 2012 SKPC 161

• Judge: Scott, P.C.J.
• Court: Provincial Court of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: September 26, 2012
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2012 SKPC 161;(2012), 406 Sask.R. 230 (PC)

R. v. N.B.L. (2012), 406 Sask.R. 230 (PC)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2012] Sask.R. TBEd. OC.055

Her Majesty the Queen v. N.B.L.

(Information Nos. 36654171; 44662780; 44662781; 2012 SKPC 161)

Indexed As: R. v. N.B.L.

Saskatchewan Provincial Court

Youth Justice Court

Scott, P.C.J.

September 26, 2012.

Summary:

The accused young person pleaded guilty to: one count of aggravated assault (Criminal Code, s. 268(1)); breaching his undertaking to keep the peace and be of good behaviour; and failing to comply with a condition of a youth sentence that he report to his youth worker (Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), s. 137). The Crown applied, unopposed, for a determination that the aggravated assault be designated as a serious violent offence (YCJA, s. 42(9)).

The Saskatchewan Provincial Court granted the application. The court sentenced the accused to 24 months' secure custody. The court then credited the accused with six months for pre-sentence detention, and imposed a sentence of an additional 18 months' secure custody, 12 months of which would be served in closed custody, followed by six months' community supervision. The court also made the mandatory orders regarding a DNA sample for inclusion in the DNA Data Bank and a weapons prohibition.

Editor's Note: Certain names in the following case have been initialized or the case otherwise edited to prevent the disclosure of identities where required by law, publication ban, Maritime Law Book's editorial policy or otherwise.

Criminal Law - Topic 5938

Sentence - Aggravated assault - The accused young person pleaded guilty to: aggravated assault; breaching his undertaking to keep the peace and be of good behaviour; and failing to comply with a condition of a youth sentence that he report to his youth worker - Remorseful - Grade 9 education - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court stated that it was difficult to conceive of a more serious aggravated assault (repeated blows to the victim's head with a baseball bat) - The court sentenced the accused to 24 months' secure custody - A custodial period was necessary to provide meaningful consequences and achieve meaningful progress for the accused - It was unlikely that he would successfully comply with conditions, if probation alone were imposed, given his history of non-compliance - After crediting the accused with six months for pre-sentence detention, the court imposed a sentence of an additional 18 months' secure custody, 12 months of which would be served in closed custody, to be followed by six months' community supervision.

Criminal Law - Topic 8801.2

Young offenders - Decisions (incl. punishments) - "Serious violent offence" defined (incl. when designation made) - The accused young person pleaded guilty to: aggravated assault; breaching his undertaking to keep the peace and be of good behaviour; and failing to comply with a condition of a youth sentence that he report to his youth worker - The Crown applied, unopposed, for a determination that the aggravated assault be designated as a serious violent offence - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court granted the application - It was difficult to conceive of a more serious aggravated assault (repeated blows to the victim's head with a baseball bat) - Although he was with a group, the accused delivered the blows with the bat - The victim would be significantly and permanently disabled - The harm was intentional and foreseeable - See paragraphs 16 to 21 and 58.

Criminal Law - Topic 8802

Young offenders - Decisions (incl. punishments) - Credit for time served - The accused young person pleaded guilty to: aggravated assault; breaching his undertaking to keep the peace and be of good behaviour; and failing to comply with a condition of a youth sentence that he report to his youth worker - 95 days' pre-sentence detention - The Crown argued for 1:1 credit, to be taken into account only in sentencing on the breaches - The defence sought 2:1 credit, based on the court's practice - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court granted 2:1 credit (six months) - The accused had spent his pre-sentence detention in a secure facility - While on remand, he had done reasonably well having achieved Level 3 before losing a level because of smoking and had been attending school - The accused remained in detention while three reports were prepared and the sentencing decision was completed - See paragraphs 51 to 56.

Criminal Law - Topic 8806

Young offenders - Decisions (incl. punishments) - Sentencing considerations - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court referred to the principles to be applied when sentencing a young person - See paragraphs 40 to 43.

Criminal Law - Topic 8814

Young offenders - Decisions (incl. punishments) - Secure custody - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5938 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 8817.3

Young offenders - Decisions (incl. punishments) - Custody and supervision order (incl. breach and review) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5938 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 8817.5

Young offenders - Decisions (incl. punishments) - Custody - Failure to comply with prior non-custodial sentence - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5938 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. C.D., [2005] 3 S.C.R. 668; 343 N.R. 1; 376 A.R. 258; 360 W.A.C. 258; 2005 SCC 78, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. R.C., [2005] 3 S.C.R. 99; 340 N.R. 53; 237 N.S.R.(2d) 204; 754 A.P.R. 204; 2005 SCC 61, refd to. [para. 42].

R. v. D.B., [2008] 2 S.C.R. 3; 374 N.R. 221; 237 O.A.C. 110; 2008 SCC 25, refd to. [para. 42].

R. v. J.C. (2010), 361 Sask.R. 98; 2010 SKPC 113, refd to. [para. 43].

R. v. W.J., 2004 SKCA (SentDig) 17, refd to. [para. 44].

R. v. S.T. (2010), 349 Sask.R. 29; 2010 SKPC 12, refd to. [para. 45].

R. v. C.C.B., 2010 SKPC 181, refd to. [para. 46].

R. v. D.C.B., 2000 SKCA (SentDig) 48, refd to. [para. 47].

R. v. T.M., 2009 SKCA (SentDig) 30, refd to. [para. 48].

R. v. J.I.M., 1997 SKCA (SentDig) 18, refd to. [para. 49].

R. v. C.R.B. (2009), 334 Sask.R. 137; 2009 SKQB 176, dist. [para. 52].

R. v. Flaten, 2009 S.J. No. 709 (C.A.), dist. [para. 53].

R. v. T.F.J., 2010 SKPC 88, refd to. [para. 54].

Counsel:

Dorinda Stahl, for the Crown;

Pat Tondevold, for the defence.

This case was heard at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, by Scott, P.C.J., of the Saskatchewan Provincial Court, who delivered the following decision on September 26, 2012.