R. v. Merceica Date:, 2011 BCPC 379

Citation: R. v. Merceica Date: 20111214 2011 BCPC 0379 File No: 86144-1 Registry: Port Coquitlam IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REGINA v. RODNEY MERCEICA ORAL REASONS FOR SENTENCE OF THE HONOURABLE JUDGE ST. PIERRE Counsel for the Crown: L. Berman Counsel for the Accused: V. Desroches Place of Hearing: Port Coquitlam , B.C. Date of Hearing: December 14, 2011 Date of Judgment: December 14, 2011 [ 1 ] THE COURT : Mr.

Mercecia is being sentenced for an aggravated assault on Michael Ryder and that while committing that assault he used a weapon, a hot liquid, which comprise the two charges on that Information. [ 2 ] By virtue of the pre-sentence report and the thorough submissions of counsel for Mr. Mercecia, it is clear that he has had a number of challenges and burdens to overcome in his lifetime. Of that there is no doubt. There is no doubt that he has been involved from a young age in the kind of lifestyle that everyone hopes that children would not have to grow up in but it happened to Mr.

Mercecia and he is having to deal with the aftermath and the effects of it, some of which are the inability to put in proper context his place in society. [ 3 ] When I say that, Mr. Mercecia, a lot of times when I see young men like yourself who are involved in a criminal lifestyle like you yourself admittedly are, it is almost like the attitude is "It's us against them" because you and a lot of other people and young men have never felt part of the wider community, but the fact is and the fact remains and it always remains that you are part of the community.

No matter what you think about that, you are part of our community, the same one I live in, the same one everybody here in this courtroom lives in. At some point in time you have to accept that and the fact that every time you do something negative such as criminal activity or behaviour, you are hurting the place that you live in and the people around you: everybody. You are destroying your own community.

It is like those people you see on television from time to time starting a riot, including the one here, where people go around smashing up their own neighbourhood, destroying the very things that they take advantage of every day in their own institutions and structures all out

of anger and thoughtlessness. But at the end of the day you look back on it and ask "Why are we doing this? Why are we destroying everything around us?" You have to accept at some point in time that you are part of the community. [ 4 ] You cannot use your past as a crutch for all of your behaviour in the future.

It is going to be difficult to get beyond that and I am happy that you are willing to make those efforts to try in taking advantage of the programs that are available to you in prison because you will need to take advantage of those programs to be successful when you come out. [ 5 ] When I say successful, that just means being a man, perhaps getting into a relationship; one day you might want to get a job, you might pay rent, you might want to have children of your own that you want to be a positive role model for.

It just means growing up and realizing that the harm that you are causing is not only to other people but also to yourself. Why you would want to spend the rest of your adult years in a federal penitentiary is beyond me. I know you do not want to and I know you know you have to make changes and the only issue is how you do that. I hope you get some of the tools you need to do that, to make those changes. [ 6 ] I think the crime itself was a cowardly attack in the middle of an institution where people are housed awaiting trial.

There are some violent individuals in there, there are lots of people involved in a criminal lifestyle there, but the fact is nobody deserves to be attacked and assaulted, no matter who they are, no matter where they are and no matter what you think they may have done. [ 7 ] You do not want to walk around in an institution watching your back for the rest of your life and what you have done by doing this is creating that culture for everybody in the institution.

If you have to sleep with one eye open every night and watch your back every day of your life in the institution, it is a horrible existence, and you are creating that atmosphere just by what you are doing. It really needs to be set out quite clearly that in an institutional setting we cannot condone these types of attacks on guards, on Correctional Officers, or inmates.

They are all equally deserving of protection because they are all human beings and everybody deserves the same protection. [ 8 ] I look at the cases the Crown has given me and I do not believe I have any other option under the circumstances with your record with the aptitude you have shown for rehabilitation in the past.

I disagree with some of the comments by judges in here that rehabilitation is not even a secondary concern, (it is always a concern) but the fact is also that denunciation and deterrence are in my mind primary concerns in this scenario. [ 9 ] I think the Crown's suggestion that a three year sentence is the appropriate sentence, and again nobody takes pleasure in sending young men to a federal penitentiary for that period of time, but given your record and the case law, it seems that that is the appropriate sentence and given the fact that your response to other attempts to try to assist you in your rehabilitation have not met with much success.

Right now it is up to you, it is all up to you and it has always been up to you, but the court can only help as much as it can. Hopefully you will make the changes necessary to become a different person. [ 10 ] I will leave up to the parole officials to determine when you get released and your behaviour inside will determine that, but the sentence is three years. The time that you have served so far by your own request is not credited to that. [ 11 ] There will be a DNA order and there will be a s. 109 ban for life on possession and ownership of weapons.

I will waive the victim fine surcharge. [ 12 ] Good luck to you. [ORAL REASONS FOR SENTENCE CONCLUDED]