Assault causing bodily harm, Assault by choking, suffocating or strangling, Assault
R v. Himmelman
- No jail for a violent offence
Sentence and the Crown's position
A conditional sentence is served in the community, usually under house arrest. It counts as no custody here.
What the law allows
Zachary Himmelman was found guilty after trial of assault causing bodily harm, assault by choking and assault against his intimate partner. The Crown sought a conditional sentence of 18 months concurrent on the two section 267 counts plus 4 months consecutive, and the defence 4 months plus 2 months consecutive. Justice Rowe imposed a total conditional sentence of 13 months served as house arrest, followed by one year of probation, citing his youth, lack of prior convictions and steps toward sobriety, while noting concern about choking in intimate partner violence.
In the judge's words
1In regard to sentence, the Court has considered the mitigating and aggravating factors. I will make one note though. The offence of assault by choking in an intimate partner relationship is concerning, as the crime has been linked, for some offenders, with escalations in violence toward an intimate partner.
The record
- Convicted of
- Assault causing bodily harm (CC 267(b))
- Assault by choking, suffocating or strangling (CC 267(c))
- Assault (CC 266)
- Prior convictions
- 0 prior convictions1
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: Leigh-Ann Bryson
Defence: Matthew Fancy
Sources
- R v. Himmelman, 2024 NSSC 411 Court decision, CanLII, November 21, 2024
[1] Zachary Himmelman was found guilty of three breaches of the Criminal Code, specifically section 267(b) (assault causing bodily harm) and section 267(c) (assault with choking) and section 266 (assault).
[9] The PSR notes that Mr. Himmelman has no prior convictions.
[34] In regard to sentence, the Court has considered the mitigating and aggravating factors. I will make one note though. The offence of assault by choking in an intimate partner relationship is concerning, as the crime has been linked, for some offenders, with escalations in violence toward an intimate partner.
[35] The Court will order a custodial sentence of 9 months, to be served in the community as a conditional sentence order in regard to the breach of section 267(b) assault causing bodily harm, section 267(c) assault with choking, to be served concurrently. Further, there will be a consecutive term of 4 months custodial sentence, to be served as a conditional sentence, for the section 266 assault. This is a total of 13 months, conditional sentence, to be served as house arrest. … [39] Further, there will be a term of probation of 1 year after the conclusion of the Conditional Sentence Order.
- Criminal Code, s. 267 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R v. Himmelman, 2024 NSSC 411 Court decision, Courts of Nova Scotia