R. v. Lovett Date:, 2011 BCPC 415

Citation: R. v. Lovett Date: 20110506 2011 BCPC 0415 File No: 72239-2C Registry: Abbotsford IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REGINA v. TAMMY GRETA LOVETT REASONS FOR SENTENCE OF THE HONOURABLE JUDGE D. R. GARDNER Counsel for the Crown: A. Turton Counsel for the Defendant: O. Snowdon Place of Hearing: Abbotsford , B.C.

Date of Hearing: May 6, 2011 Date of Judgment: May 6, 2011 [ 1 ] THE COURT : The accused has pled guilty to Count 1 on the indictment, that being unlawfully producing a controlled substance, that being cannabis marihuana, and Count 4, unlawfully storing ammunition in a careless manner, that being shotgun shells. [ 2 ] The police executed a search warrant at the residence where she was living, as well as the barn that was located on the same property. They found 1,089 plants in various stages of development.

The value was roughly between half a million dollars and $700,000 depending on whether it was sold by the pound, the ounce, or smaller quantities. Her participation in this was not particularly large, in my view. She allowed a closed circuit monitoring device to be installed on her residence.

At the time, her 13 and 16-year-old children were living with her and the Crown has cited that as an aggravating factor, and the Crown has also cited as an aggravating factor the size of the operation and the value of the drugs that were seized. [ 3 ] The Crown has asked the court to consider 12 months incarceration and is opposed to a conditional sentence. [ 4 ] The defence has asked the court to consider a conditional sentence.

They have pointed out that she is the mother of three children, she has pled guilty to this matter, and that her participation in this was at the lower end of the scale, a proposition which I accept. She seemed to be the dupe for people that were far more involved in this enterprise than she was. I would be hard-pressed to conclude that she was receiving large amounts of money from this operation given her less-than-affluent lifestyle at the time of her arrest. I also recognize that her arrest took place almost two years ago and she has not been in any further difficulty since then.

[ 5 ] As I said earlier, there are numerous cases from the higher courts, particularly our Court of Appeal, that are somewhat difficult to reconcile at times. The one guiding principle that emerges from all of these cases is that sentencing is a highly individualized proposition. As pointed out in the pre-sentence report, Ms. Lovett does not come before the court as someone of good physical health. She has been treated before for panic attacks, depression, Irritated Bowel Syndrome, and severe back pain. She is in remission from ovarian cancer, and has a mitro valve prolapse.

This is all set out in writing by her treating physician. [ 6 ] Is she a bad mother? Well, not according to the letters that have been provided to the court. She has received a lot of support from family members and her friends. Yes, this probably is not the best environment to set up for your children, but against that submission I have to take into consideration the views of her children. Her son Colin describes her as "a great parent" who has always been there for him.

"She has been the only parent to raise me and my sister." He was there when she was going through her cancer therapy, and in his words, "It was tough seeing my mom go through that, but she managed to see me off to school, make dinners, all the mother stuff," and talks about how much he loves her. He says he almost lost her once and doesn't want to lose her by the court sending her to jail. Her daughter says similar things, and describes her as "a great mom" and is asking me to forgive her. [ 7 ] I am not going to send her to jail in these circumstances.

I will impose a conditional sentence for a period of 12 months. The conditions are you shall keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

You shall appear before the court when required to do so by the court. [ 8 ] You shall report in person to a conditional sentence supervisor no later than noon Monday, May the 9th, and thereafter as and when directed by your supervisor. [ 9 ] You shall remain within British Columbia unless written permission to go outside British Columbia is obtained from the court or the supervisor. [ 10 ] You shall notify the court or your supervisor in advance of any change of name or address, and promptly notify the court or the supervisor of any change in employment or occupation. [ 11 ] You shall inform your supervisor of your present residential address and phone number, and not change that address or phone number without prior written notice to your supervisor. [ 12 ] You shall obey a curfew by being inside of your residence between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. each day, except with the written permission of your supervisor to be outside of your residence during the hours specified, in which case you are to carry a copy of such written permission on your person and present it to any peace officer who requests to see it.

Such permission is to be given only for compelling personal, family or employment reasons. [ 13 ] You shall present yourself at the door of your residence to any peace officer or your supervisor for the purpose of determining your compliance with the curfew condition of this order. [ 14 ] You shall attend for, participate in and successfully complete such counselling as directed by your supervisor. [ 15 ] You shall not possess or consume any alcohol or non-prescribed drugs. [ 16 ] You shall perform and complete at the direction of and to the satisfaction of your supervisor, 40 hours of community service work which shall be completed no later than December 31st of this year. [ 17 ] Under s. 109 of the Criminal Code , I am prohibiting you from possessing any firearm, crossbow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or explosive substance for a period of ten years. [ 18 ] There will be an order of forfeiture of the exhibits seized during this investigation. [ 19 ] Was the Crown asking for anything other than forfeiture? [ 20 ] MS.

TURTON: A DNA order, please, Your Honour. [ 21 ] THE COURT: Any submissions on a DNA order? [ 22 ] MS. SNOWDON: I haven't any, Your Honour, except to say that the circumstances may not suggest [indiscernible] [ 23 ] THE COURT: I have your point, but I also recognize that people who engage in the narcotics business have their own way of settling disputes, and could oftentimes be very violent in nature. I do not have any problem, in these circumstances, of ordering that she provide a sample of her DNA. Is this Mission? [ 24 ] MS.

SNOWDON: It is, Your Honour. [ 25 ] THE COURT: I've forgotten the day. [ 26 ] THE CLERK: Thursdays between 8:00 and noon. [ 27 ] THE COURT: Any reason she can't do that next Thursday, Ms. Snowdon? [ 28 ] MS. SNOWDON: That's fine, thank you, Your Honour. [ 29 ] THE COURT: She will attend at the Mission RCMP between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and noon on Thursday, May the 12th of this year.

[ 30 ] I will waive the victim fine surcharge in the circumstances. [ 31 ] I also need to warn Ms. Lovett, and I'm sure you have discussed with her the possibility of breaching of any of these conditions, you can be brought back to the court and I have a number of options open to me.

The one you should be most cognizant of is that if you breach any of these conditions I do have the option of requiring you to serve the balance of your sentence in custody; do you understand that? [ 32 ] THE ACCUSED: Yes. [ 33 ] THE COURT: Thank you. [ 34 ] THE CLERK: And the DNA is secondary or primary? [ 35 ] THE COURT: Secondary. [ 36 ] MS. SNOWDON: And the curfew, Your Honour, is to extend throughout the 12- month period? [ 37 ] THE COURT: Yes. [ 38 ] MS. SNOWDON: Thank you, Your Honour. [ 39 ] MS.

TURTON: And having said all that, Your Honour, Crown would direct a stay of proceedings with respect to the remaining counts on the Information. [ 40 ] THE COURT: All right. Thank you, counsel. [ 41 ] MS. SNOWDON: Thank you, Your Honour. (REASONS FOR SENTENCE CONCLUDED)