Anonymous has left a new comment on your post,"VJH ..... help!"Hi Clare,
Check out the front page of today's Winnipeg Sun. You will get a hoot.
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Dear Anonymous:
Thank you for contacting CyberSmokeBlog. After reading the article we realized you did mean this.
Sincerely,Clare L. Pieuk
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Eight-Ball Award for Judge KeyserBy Tom Brodbeck
August 3, 2011
Queen's Bench Justice Brenda Keyser, seen here presiding over a mock trial, is a repeat offender of Tom Brodbeck's Eigh-Ball Award after giving a lax sentence to a man who beat a man to death. (Winnipeg Sun Files)The message Queen’s Bench Justice Brenda Keyser sent out to society this week is if you get really drunk and hurt or kill someone, you won’t be held accountable for your actions.
That’s the net result of her decision Wednesday when she agreed to let a killer walk scot-free after serving only 2 1/2 years in pre-sentence custody.
For that, Keyser is the latest winner of the Eight-Ball Award, handed out in this column to highlight some of the worst perversions of justice in our court system.
This is the case of Ivan Anderson, who got drunk and helped beat an innocent man to death in December 2008.
Anderson’s original charge of second-degree murder was knocked down to manslaughter, which he pleaded guilty to, and the Crown agreed to a joint-sentencing recommendation of five years with double-time credit for time served.
So he walked because he served 2 1/2 years.
Keyser agreed with the joint recommendation, which she didn’t have to. There’s a misconception out there sometimes that judges must accept joint-sentencing recommendations. Nope. Judges have the final say. And if they believe a joint-rec is not a fit sentence, they can overturn it. In fact, it’s their duty to.
And many judges have. I’ve given countless examples of that in this column over the years where the substituted sentence was upheld at appeal.
So no, Keyser did not have to accept this deal. In fact, she brought the administration of justice into disrepute by accepting this pathetic sentence.
It’s yet another example of how judges are increasingly placing less weight on the sentencing principles of deterrence and denunciation in court.
And they are virtually ignoring the overarching sentencing principle in the criminal code that sentences must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence.
Keyser also didn’t have to give Anderson 2-for-1 credit for time served, either. Yes, his case predates changes to the law the Harper government brought in to eliminate 2-for-1 credit. But extra credit for time served was never mandatory. The Criminal Code said a judge “may” consider time served when sentencing. Many judges in the past have refused to give 2-for-1 credit even before the law was changed.
When someone is severely intoxicated like Anderson was and becomes a menace to society in the worst way — by taking the life of another human being — his behaviour must be denounced and denounced loudly. In order to maintain order in society and to protect public safety, we rely on our courts to take aggressive action against murderers, rapists and people who hurt and maim others.
Do judges like Keyser really expect the public to have confidence in the justice system when they allow killers like Anderson to walk scot-free? Is it not the job of the courts to ensure the administration of justice does not fall into disrepute?
A show of hands from anyone who feels this case gives the public confidence in the justice system. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Keyser is a two-time winner of the Eight-Ball Award. She won her first one in 2004 when she spared a teen killer jail time and gave him a two-year probationary sentence instead.
The 16-year-old killed a man with a knife.
Enjoy your award, Justice Keyser. But please don’t go for a three-peat.
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