Mr. Adler

M.J., a 15-year-old young person, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the swarming death of Kenneth Lee.

The court considered the principles of youth sentencing under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, including accountability, rehabilitation, and reintegration, as well as the diminished moral culpability of young persons.

Aggravating factors included the vicious nature of the swarming and M.J.'s significant involvement, including wielding vice grips.

Mitigating factors included her intoxication, lack of prior record, genuine remorse, acceptance of responsibility, and positive engagement with community support.

The court also considered institutional malfeasance during her pre-trial custody, including unlawful strip searches and improper transfers.

The Crown sought a 3-year sentence (2 years custody, 1 year conditional supervision).

The defence sought a non-custodial sentence.

The court credited M.J. with 15 months of effective pre-trial custody and imposed a 15-month Intensive Support and Supervision Program (ISSP) order, along with 15 months of youth probation and ancillary orders.

The accused was charged with impaired driving and driving with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit (over 80).

The Crown proved the over 80 charge through breath test results.

However, the court found the accused not guilty of impaired driving due to weak evidence of impairment.

The court also found serious Charter violations: an unlawful and arbitrary detention under section 9 based on an erroneous policy requiring out-of-province residents to post bonds, and a violation of the right to counsel under section 10(b).

The court granted a stay of proceedings on the over 80 count due to the severity of the Charter violations and the state's entrenched discriminatory release practices.