R. v. Weatherbee (M.A.), (2014) 456 Sask.R. 196 (PC)

• Judge: Labach, P.C.J.
• Court: Provincial Court of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: November 10, 2014
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: (2014), 456 Sask.R. 196 (PC);2014 SKPC 196

R. v. Weatherbee (M.A.) (2014), 456 Sask.R. 196 (PC)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2014] Sask.R. TBEd. NO.031

Her Majesty the Queen v. Melissa Ann Weatherbee

(Information Nos. 33612275; 33612276; 33612277; 33612271; 33612273; 39745564; 43174441; 44334431; 44334870; 44407633; 43174847; 36655796; 30579282; 44335021; 2014 SKPC 196)

Indexed As: R. v. Weatherbee (M.A.)

Saskatchewan Provincial Court

Labach, P.C.J.

November 10, 2014.

Summary:

The accused pled guilty to 22 charges from Alberta and 18 from Saskatchewan, primarily consisting of charges of fraud, possession of stolen property, breaches of probation and of a recognizance, failure to attend court and theft of a bicycle.

The Saskatchewan Provincial Court sentenced the accused to a total of 21 months incarceration and to make restitution to the 28 victims of her fraud. Victim fine surcharges totalling $1,900 were also imposed. The accused had spent 7.5 months on remand. She was entitled to credit for this time on a 1:1 basis.

Criminal Law - Topic 5627

Punishments (sentence) - Fines, penalties and compensation orders - Victim fine surcharge - The accused pled guilty to 22 charges from Alberta and 18 from Saskatchewan, primarily consisting of charges of fraud, possession of stolen property, breaches of probation and of a recognizance, failure to attend court and theft of a bicycle - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court sentenced the accused to a total of 21 months incarceration and to make restitution to the 28 victims of her fraud - Victim fine surcharges were imposed on the Saskatchewan counts as all of those offences occurred after October 24, 2013 - These included 17 summary matters and one indictable matter - There was a surcharge of $100 on each summary matter and $200 on the indictable matter - Total surcharges owing were $1,900, applicable in default time to apply consecutively to each other and to any other time being served - The court declined to exercise its discretion to impose victim fine surcharges on the offences that occurred before October 24, 2013, as that would impose an undue hardship on the accused, given her lack of resources - See paragraph 110.

Criminal Law - Topic 5720.4

Punishments (sentence) - Conditional sentence - When available or appropriate - The accused pled guilty to 22 charges from Alberta and 18 from Saskatchewan, primarily consisting of charges of fraud, possession of stolen property, breaches of probation and of a recognizance, failure to attend court and theft of a bicycle - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court sentenced the accused to a total of 21 months incarceration and to make restitution to the 28 victims of her fraud - A conditional sentence order was not appropriate - The accused's offences occurred over a lengthy period of time, spanned two provinces and involved numerous victims - While she was committing the offences, she was subject to, first, a probation order and, later, a recognizance and an undertaking - The accused did not appear to appreciate the impact of her offences - Denunciation and deterrence were key considerations in a sentencing of this nature and could only be achieved through a period of real incarceration - Further, the theft offence under s. 374 of the Criminal Code was an indictable offence for which a conditional sentence order was precluded - See paragraphs 104 and 105.

Criminal Law - Topic 5792

Punishments (sentence) - Restitution - When appropriate - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5833

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Deterrence - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5720.4 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5834.4

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Fleeing jurisdiction before trial or sentencing - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5846.7

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Offence committed while accused on recognizance or bail - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5848.2

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Time already served (incl. bail) - The accused pled guilty to 22 charges from Alberta and 18 from Saskatchewan, primarily consisting of charges of fraud, possession of stolen property, breaches of probation and of a recognizance, failure to attend court and theft of a bicycle - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court sentenced the accused to a total of 21 months incarceration and to make restitution to the 28 victims of her fraud - The accused had spent 7.5 months on remand - She was entitled to credit for this time on a 1:1 basis - Virtually all of the remand time was the result of the accused breaching her undertaking and committing new frauds after having been released - As the accused was detained in custody under s. 524(8) of the Criminal Code, she fell into one of the statutory exceptions to the general rule in R. v. Summers (S.) (2014 S.C.C.) - See paragraphs 106 and 107.

Criminal Law - Topic 5848.7

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Denunciation or repudiation of conduct - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5720.4 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5849.25

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Large number of victims - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5854

Sentence - Theft - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5859

Sentence - Fraud - The accused pled guilty to 22 charges from Alberta and 18 from Saskatchewan, primarily consisting of charges of fraud, possession of stolen property, breaches of probation and of a recognizance, failure to attend court and theft of a bicycle - The Saskatchewan Provincial Court sentenced the accused to a total of 21 months incarceration and to make restitution to the 28 victims of her fraud - The accused had a record, although short, for fraud and theft - She defrauded a considerable number of people over one year in two provinces - Her scam was polished, convincing and designed to take advantage of the victim's compassion and generosity - She defrauded people while on probation and continued after being arrested and released on a recognizance - Rather than deal with her offences in Alberta, she fled to Saskatchewan and continued her pattern of frauds - The accused intentionally misled the person preparing her presentence report and had attempted to mislead the court as to her ability to repay her victims - Finally, she was assessed as a high risk to re-offend - In light of the magnitude of the offences, the only appropriate sentence was a period of incarceration - See paragraphs 79 to 109.

Criminal Law - Topic 5862

Sentence - Possession of stolen goods or goods obtained by crime - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5892

Sentence - Breach of restraining order, recognizance or undertaking - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5898

Sentence - Breach of probation - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5921

Sentence - Being at large or failing to appear - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5859 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Fast (R.J.) (2014), 441 Sask.R. 92 (Q.B.), dist. [para. 79].

R. v. Summers (S.), [2014] 1 S.C.R. 575; 456 N.R. 1; 316 O.A.C. 349, refd to. [para. 81].

R. v. Dyck, [2014] S.J. No. 506 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 81].

R. v. Sawchuk (R.) (2014), 442 Sask.R. 164; 616 W.A.C. 164 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 81].

R. v. Bethke (D.) (2013), 427 Sask.R. 135; 591 W.A.C. 135 (C.A.), dist. [para. 97].

R. v. Maskwa (D.) (2013), 411 Sask.R. 238; 2013 SKPC 15, dist. [para. 99].

R. v. Raymond (1985), 44 Sask.R. 163 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 100].

R. v. Fitzpatrick (J.M.) (2005), 213 B.C.A.C. 130; 352 W.A.C. 130 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 100].

R. v. Glickman, [2011] B.C.J. No. 1174 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 100].

R. v. Voutier (G.M.), [2014] A.R. Uned. 124 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 100].

Counsel:

Bryce Pashovitz, for the Crown;

Mike Buchinski, for the accused.

This matter was heard at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, by Labach, P.C.J., of the Saskatchewan Provincial Court, who delivered the following decision on November 10, 2014.