Flight from a peace officer, Motor vehicle theft, Resisting or obstructing a peace officer, Theft $5,000 or under
R. v. MacPherson
Sentence and the Crown's position
What the law allows
Jason Patrick MacPherson pleaded guilty to a series of offences committed over about 13 months in Castlegar and Kelowna, including two motor vehicle thefts, flight from police, theft of a case of beer, resisting a peace officer and uttering threats. Crown and defence jointly proposed a time-served sentence with 18 months of probation. Justice Wilson accepted the joint submission, imposing sentences totalling 254 days that were covered by 258 days of enhanced credit, followed by 18 months of probation, noting the offences appeared linked to mental health concerns.
In the judge's words
1All of that is to say that it appears that what Mr. MacPherson needs is medical assistance in terms of addressing the mental health concerns, because his past would suggest that he is quite capable of living a prosocial life.
The record
- Convicted of
- Flight from a peace officer (CC 320.17)
- Motor vehicle theft (CC 333.1, 2 counts)
- Resisting or obstructing a peace officer (CC 129(a))
- Theft $5,000 or under (CC 334(b))
- Prior convictions
- 1 prior conviction1
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Defence asked for
- Time served1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: T. Sicotte
Defence: N. Selamaj
Sources
- R. v. MacPherson, 2024 BCSC 2675 Court decision, CanLII, June 4, 2024
[5] The joint submission is for a time-served sentence with 18 months of probation and, rather than making everybody wait until the end, I confirm that I will accept the joint submission.
[5] The joint submission is for a time-served sentence with 18 months of probation and, rather than making everybody wait until the end, I confirm that I will accept the joint submission.
[1] THE COURT: Mr. MacPherson is before the court today for sentencing, having pleaded guilty to various offences earlier this morning.
[6] In terms of the aggravating and mitigating factors, Mr. MacPherson is almost 38 years of age, … Mr. MacPherson had only one prior criminal conviction which was an impaired charge from what is now 16 years ago.
[9] All of that is to say that it appears that what Mr. MacPherson needs is medical assistance in terms of addressing the mental health concerns, because his past would suggest that he is quite capable of living a prosocial life.
[5] The joint submission is for a time-served sentence with 18 months of probation … [13] That, I am told, equals 254 days, and Mr. MacPherson, based on enhanced credit, has 258 days of credit. As such, he is now in a time-served position.
- R. v. MacPherson, 2024 BCSC 2675 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia