Manslaughter
R. v. MacDonald
- Below the Crown's ask
Sentence and the Crown's position
Crown asked10 years in custody1
Judge imposed9 years, less credit of 7 years, 8 months, 10 days for pre-sentence custody1
1 year less custody than the Crown asked
What the law allows
MaximumLife imprisonment
Crown asked10 years in custody
Judge imposed9 years in custody
Defence asked7 years in custody
Jessica MacDonald pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a 2019 stabbing death in Sydney, after originally being charged with murder. The Crown sought 10 to 12 years and a delayed parole order; the defence sought seven years. Justice Murray imposed nine years less credit for pre-sentence custody equivalent to 7 years, 8 months and 10 days, finding the Crown's range gave too little weight to her guilty plea, lack of record, secondary role and cooperation with police, and refused to delay parole eligibility.
In the judge's words
1After weighing the relevant factors, I find that a sentence in the range sought by the Crown would accord insufficient weight to the mitigating factors present.
The record
- Convicted of
- Manslaughter (CC 236)
- Prior convictions
- 0 prior convictions1
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Defence asked for
- 7 years in custody1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: Rochelle Palmer, Kathryn Pentz, KC
Defence: Peter Mancini, KC
Sources
- R. v. MacDonald, 2024 NSSC 423 Court decision, CanLII, December 20, 2024
[4] The Crown seeks a 10-to-12-year period of incarceration, stating that this range is in line with the authorities and would reflect the degree of moral blameworthiness of Ms. MacDonald in the offence, as well as her personal circumstances.
[5] The Defence argues for a custodial sentence of seven (7) years less time served based on an appropriate calculation of remand credit of 1.5 to 1.
[1] The accused, Jessica MacDonald, is before the Court to be sentenced in the death of
[66] She has no criminal record and is a first-time offender.
[149] After weighing the relevant factors, I find that a sentence in the range sought by the Crown would accord insufficient weight to the mitigating factors present.
[167] In conclusion, the sentence I impose upon Ms. MacDonald is nine (9) years less credit for the time she has spent in pre-trial custody, which is the equivalent of 7 years, 8 months, 10 days. Applying the agreed enhanced credit of 1.5 to 1, the remaining time to be served is 1 year, 3 months, and 20 days on a go forward basis.
- Criminal Code, s. 236 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R. v. MacDonald, 2024 NSSC 423 Court decision, Courts of Nova Scotia