hollywoodtone.blogspot.com B.C. judge finds mandatory minimum drug sentence unconstitutional
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com B.C. judge finds mandatory minimum drug sentence unconstitutional
Vancouver - A B.C. Provincial Court Judge ruled a mandatory minimum sentence under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and was unconstitutional.
Yesterday, Judge Joseph Galati sentenced 25-year-old Joseph Ryan LLoyd to a jail term of 191 days. Existing legislation required Lloyd to be sentenced to a minimum of one year for the offences he had been found guilty of. Galati's decision was written on Jan. 24. However, he gave the Crown time to argue that the breach of the Charter that he found occurred was justified under Section 1. Section 1 provides all rights under the Charter are subject to limits that are prescribed by law and demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Prosecutors failed to persuade the judge that the mandatory minimum sentence was justified. Lloyd was convicted of three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking on Sept. 10, 2013. He was found guilty of possession of 2.39 grams of crack, 6.16 grams of methamphetamine and 0.64 grams of heroin. At the time of his arrest on March 22, 2013, Lloyd was also found with $304 in cash and a notebook with names and phone numbers found to be a "score sheet" for drug sales. The 25-year-old had a criminal record at the time of sentencing that included convictions for theft, forgery, fraud, assault and possession of a prohibited weapon. Significant to his sentencing, he also had a conviction for trafficking in 2012. Section 5(3)(a)(i)D of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) provides that a person who is convicted of possession of an enumerated drug for the purpose of trafficking is subject to a minimum sentence of one year if they have been convicted of a designated drug offence or served a term of imprisonment for such offence within the previous 10 years. There was no dispute that under the CDSA, Lloyd was subject to the mandatory minimum sentence of one year. The mandatory minimum sentence does not distinguish between someone like Lloyd, who was described as a low-level trafficker who sold drugs to support his own habit, and someone who sells drugs solely for financial gain. In distinguishing the two, Galati wrote, " A one-year sentence [under these circumstances]...is a sentence which Canadians would find abhorrent or intolerable." These offences were committed while Lloyd was out on bail for other crimes. Despite the fact Galati found the mandatory minimum sentence unconstitutional and sentenced Lloyd to 191 days in jail, he also found an appropriate sentence for Lloyd was in the range of 12 to 18 months. As Digital Journal reported last November, the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down mandatory minimum sentences for firearms offences, finding they constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Galati's decision is the first in Canada to find mandatory minimum drug sentences unconstitutional. Unless it is overturned, Galati's decision will be binding on all B.C. Provincial Court judges. The Crown intends to appeal.
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com B.C. judge finds mandatory minimum drug sentence unconstitutional