Defence appeal from 18 month jail sentence following a conviction for aggravated assault. Trial judge accepted the accused’s evidence at trial regarding a belief in self-defence, however, found that the accused used excessive force. Issue as to whether the trial judge failed to consider the accused’s state of mind as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
Held: Appeal dismissed.
“The law is clear that failing to consider the context of self-defence in sentencing is a mistake, even if the legal defence has been rejected: R v Stone, [1999] 2 SCR 290 … However, that mistake was not made here”. The trial judge specifically considered the accused’s state of mind in arriving at a fit sentence.
S. Kurie – Defence Counsel