Manslaughter with a firearm
R. v. Dutiaume
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Aaron Spencer Dutiaume pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm after he entered a home in Delta and fatally shot the victim with a shotgun. The Crown and defence jointly proposed nine years of imprisonment. Justice Girn accepted the joint submission and imposed nine years, less 627 days of credit for pre-sentence custody, finding the proposal within the accepted range and noting the early guilty plea and remorse.
In the judge's words
1I agree with the Crown that the circumstances of this offence places it at the more serious or near murder range of manslaughter cases. When Mr. Dutiaume intentionally brought a loaded firearm into the residence of the deceased and then fired it at the deceased's torso, he either knew or was reckless to the probability that his actions posed a serious risk of injury which could cause death.
The record
- Convicted of
- Manslaughter with a firearm (CC 236(a))
- Prior convictions
- Not recorded
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Defence asked for
- 9 years in custody1
- Mandatory minimum
- Applied1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: S.M. Bertrand
Defence: C. Johnson, K.C., E. Wyllie
Sources
- R. v. Dutiaume, 2024 BCSC 2498 Court decision, CanLII, December 4, 2024
[3] The parties have submitted a joint submission for sentence. Their proposal is that Mr. Dutiaume be sentenced to nine years of imprisonment, with credit for time served.
[3] The parties have submitted a joint submission for sentence. Their proposal is that Mr. Dutiaume be sentenced to nine years of imprisonment, with credit for time served.
[54] The range for sentence for manslaughter involving a firearm is four years to life imprisonment. Four years is the mandatory minimum sentence.
[2] On September 5, 2023, the accused, Aaron Dutiaume, appeared before Justice Sharma and entered a guilty plea to a single count of manslaughter using a firearm
[59] I agree with the Crown that the circumstances of this offence places it at the more serious or near murder range of manslaughter cases. When Mr. Dutiaume intentionally brought a loaded firearm into the residence of the deceased and then fired it at the deceased's torso, he either knew or was reckless to the probability that his actions posed a serious risk of injury which could cause death.
[75] You are hereby sentenced to nine years of imprisonment, minus 418 days that you have served in custody. Applying the 1.5 pretrial credit, that comes to 627 days (1 year, 8 months and 17 days).
- R. v. Dutiaume, 2024 BCSC 2498 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia