R. v. Prevost Date:, 2015 BCPC 186

Citation: R. v. Prevost Date: 20150619 2015 BCPC 0186 File No: 32748-1 Registry: Williams Lake IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REGINA v. MICHELLE MARGARET JANE PREVOST REASONS FOR SENTENCE OF THE HONOURABLE JUDGE S.D. FRAME Counsel for the Crown: Ms. C. Elliott Counsel for the Accused: Mr. R. Kaiser Place of Hearing: Kamloops , B.C. Date of Hearing: June 5, 2015 Date of Judgment: June 19, 2015

[1] Michelle Prevost is charged with assault of Tamara Jones and uttering a threat to Tamara Jones to cause death or bodily harmto her. She is also charged with storing firearms in a manner contrary to a regulation. She has pleaded guilty in First Nations Court to allthree charges. The Crown seeks a conditional sentence order of 12 months. Ms. Prevost asks the court to consider a conditionaldischarge. [2] The offence occurred on July 18, 2013, nearly two years ago. No further incidents have occurred since. Ms. Prevost is a 47year old with no criminal record.

Her plans for the future may well be seriously impacted if she ends up with a criminal record arisingfrom these incidents. [3] I have the benefit of a Gladue report as well as some references and other materials to assist in sentencing. [4] The question is whether these are circumstances which are appropriate for a conditional discharge. A conditional discharge isavailable if the court considers it to be in the best interests of the accused and not contrary to public interest.

In considering whether ornot it is in the best interests of the accused, I must look beyond merely the impact on the accused and her employment or futureopportunities. I must also look at whether deterrence is a relevant consideration or whether rehabilitation would be impaired if notattached to a probation order that leads to a criminal record. The seriousness and violence of the offence do not determine whether or nota conditional discharge is available. [5] Ms.

Prevost must be a person of good character, without prior conviction, and I must find that it is not necessary to enter aconviction against her in order to deter her from future offences or to rehabilitate her. This is part of the test set out in R. v. Fallofield, (BC CA), [1973], 13 C.C.C. (2d) 450 (B.C.C.A.).

Since that decision, this component of the test has been softened tosome degree to the extent that it does not preclude a person with a prior record receiving a conditional discharge. [6] Where it is argued that a conviction could have serious adverse repercussions to the accused person, it is up to that person toestablish to the satisfaction of the court that this is so. In other words, it is not enough to say it might seriously adversely affect theaccused. There must be some basis for the assertion. [7] The circumstances of this offence are quite alarming. There were two very young children present when Ms.

Prevost, drivenby a jealous rage, attacked Tamara Jones. The attack involved punching and kicking. Ms. Prevost’s young child and Ms. Jones’ youngchild both witnessed this event and were frightened by it. Ms. Jones has been left with what appear to be permanent scars, albeit smallones, caused by her glasses breaking. [8] There is no question that Ms. Prevost understands the impact upon the two young children who witnessed these events. Sheattempted to have counselling for her own child, but her child’s father has blocked those efforts. Ms. Prevost is similarly concerned forMs.

Jones’ child. [9] There is also no question that Ms. Prevost has expressed considerable remorse for the offence. She has taken some stepstoward rehabilitation, including taking a firearms course in response to the firearms charge. [10] Ms. Prevost is working at Walmart while she completes her Bachelor of Arts degree. She is hoping to become a familymediator and has previously been cleared for work with the Sheriff Services. She has also been employed doing supervised visits forother families. Ms. Prevost argued that she has invested 20 years in her education toward becoming a family mediator.

A criminalrecord will compromise all of this effort. [11] She also volunteers a lot which will be hampered by a criminal record. She hopes to travel as well. The complications of acriminal record for assault in that regard are obvious. [12] Ms. Prevost has been working on identifying her roots, has done a sweat and hopes to do a healing circle and restorative justicewith Ms. Jones. Ms. Jones has made it clear that she wishes to have no contact with Ms. Prevost. Ms. Prevost must accept this. [13] Ms. Prevost was pursuing restorative justice because she believed that if she and Ms.

Jones could sit down and discuss what hadhappened and have the reconciliation, it would stop Ms. Jones from her current conduct. Evidently, Ms. Jones is infiltrating Ms.Prevost’s friends and family circles and stirring up negative information about Ms. Prevost. It was my impression, although Ms. Prevostmay be correct that a restorative justice process might go some way to appeasing Ms. Jones, Ms. Prevost is primarily pursuing this tohelp herself. I see no benefit to Ms. Jones in the healing circle so long as she wishes to have no contact with Ms. Prevost. I canunderstand Ms.

Prevost’s confusion and anxiety over Ms. Jones’ alleged conduct. It does seem contrary that a person desiring no contactwould then move in with Ms. Prevost’s child and ex-husband and make deliberate contact with Ms. Prevost’s acquaintances. Despitethis apparent contradiction, Ms. Prevost must understand that Ms. Jones is the victim; not Ms. Prevost. [14] When the Elders asked Ms. Prevost if she had taken any personal grief or loss counselling for her own life difficulties, Ms.Prevost reported that she took After Divorce Care. She also attended Alcoholics Anonymous for families of alcoholics.

She alsocompleted one-on-one counselling at University of Northern British Columbia. These were in connection with her own sense of lossfollowing her divorce. They do not relate to her violent and unprovoked attack on Ms. Jones. [15] It is difficult to see how granting a discharge that will preclude a criminal record serves as a deterrent to others who may act outin jealous rages. This was not a slap or a push. It was a serious assault. That being said, the degree of the assault should not preclude aconditional discharge so long as I am satisfied that I can impose rehabilitative terms upon Ms.

Prevost that will also serve as a deterrentto others in similar circumstances. As I have said, Ms. Prevost is without criminal record. She has worked hard to progress toward acareer in family mediation and volunteers in the community. Imposing a sentence that would result in a criminal record will impair heron this path, if not foreclose her from both entirely. [16] In the circumstances, I am satisfied that it is not contrary to the public interest to impose a discharge conditional upon Ms.

Prevost completing a period of probation. [ 17 ] I am going to impose a period of probation for 12 months. The conditions are as follows:

a) You shall keep the peace and be of good behavior. You shall appear before the Court when required to do so by the Court. You shall notify the Court or your Probation Officer in advance of any change of name or address, and promptly notify the court or the Probation Officer of any change of employment or occupation.

b) You shall report on June 19, 2015 by no later than 4:00 p.m. in person to the Probation Officer at the probation office at Kamloops, B.C., and after that you shall report as and when directed by the Probation Officer.

c) When first reporting to the probation officer, you shall inform him/her of your present residential address and telephone number and you shall not change your address or telephone number without first obtaining the written consent of the probation officer.

e) For the first three months of your probation, you are to remain within your residence or on the lot on which your residence is located at all times except as follows:

a) between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. each day, in order to attend to your personal business;

b) at any time with the written consent of the probation officer. Such consent is to be given only for compelling personal, family or employment reasons;

c) when traveling directly to or returning directly from your place of employment, or while in the course of your employment. You shall provide the probation officer with written proof of your employment if requested to do so;

d) when traveling directly to or returning directly from an educational institution at which you are enrolled, or while in the course of classes or extracurricular activities approved by the probation officer at such educational institution. You shall provide the probation officer with written proof of your educational enrollment, your attendance at classes, or your involvement in extracurricular activities, if requested to do so;

e) in the event of a medical emergency and then only when traveling directly to, or returning directly from a hospital emergency ward; and

f) when traveling directly to or returning directly from a scheduled court appearance or a scheduled appointment with your supervisor officer.

d) Following the period of house arrest for the next three months, you shall obey a curfew by being inside of your residence or on the lot on which your residence is located between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. each day, except as follows:

a) with the written consent of the probation officer. Such consent is to be given only for compelling personal, family or employment reasons; or

b) when traveling directly to or returning directly from your place of employment, or while in the course of such employment. You shall provide the probation officer with written proof of employment if requested to do so; or

c) when traveling directly to or returning directly from an educational institution at which you are enrolled, or while in the course of classes or extracurricular activities approved of by the probation officer at such educational institution. You shall provide the probation officer with written proof of your educational enrollment, or your involvement in extracurricular activities, if requested to do so; or

d) in the event of a medical emergency and then only when traveling directly to or returning directly from a hospital emergency ward; or

e) when traveling directly to or returning directly from a scheduled court appearance or a scheduled appointment with your probation officer.

e) You shall present yourself at the door to your residence when any Peace Officer or probation officer attends there for the purpose of determining your compliance with the curfew and house arrest conditions of this Order.

f) You shall respond personally and immediately to the telephone when a Peace Officer or probation officer makes a telephone call to your residence for the purpose of determining your compliance with the curfew and house arrest conditions of this Order.

g) You shall have no contact or communication, directly or indirectly, with Tamara Jones.

h) You shall not attend at, or be within 50 meters of any place which you know to be the residence, school or workplace of Tamara Jones.

i) You shall not possess any weapons as defined in

Section 2 of the Criminal Code .

j) You shall attend, participate in and successfully complete any assessment, counselling or program as directed by the probation officer. Without limiting the general nature of this condition, such assessment, counselling or program may relate to: anger management or one-to-one counselling; and you shall comply with all rules and regulations of any such assessment, counselling or program.

k) Under the direction and supervision of the probation officer, you shall successfully complete 30 hours of community work, which shall be completed no later than 10 months from today’s date.

l) You shall use your best efforts to comply with your healing plan.

m) You are required to attend the Williams Lake R.C.M. Police Detachment on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 by 12:00 p.m. for the purposes of providing a sample of your DNA pursuant to Sec 487.051/487.055 of the Criminal Code of Canada . Williams Lake apparently takes DNA between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. [ 18 ] The firearms located were not connected in any way with this assault. As such, I am satisfied that the weapons prohibition I have imposed for a period of one year is adequate to the purposes.

I therefore decline to exercise my discretion under s. 110 to impose a firearm ban. [ 19 ] As for your healing plan, the primary focus of your submissions was about your career path and volunteer work. There was too little insight into the history that triggered this terribly disproportionate response. The focus of your healing plan will be on the one-to- one counselling you should be engaging to explore these issues. By your next review, explore the available resources in your community and identify one suitable to you.

Schedule your first appointment and be prepared to report these steps to the elders at your first review. Your healing plan will involve: 1) attending one-to-one counselling to address challenges posed by your relationship history; 2) support and encourage your child in recovery from this experience; 3) formulate a plan for your education and career goals that does not create additional excessive stress factors; and 4) reconcile yourself to Ms. Jones not wishing contact or restorative processes.

[ 20 ] Your first review will be September 4, 2015 in First Nations Court. ________________________________ S.D. Frame Provincial Court Judge