R. v. McInnis, 2012 NSSC 126

SUPREME COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA Citation: R. v. McInnis, 2012 NSSC 126 Date: 20120308 Docket: CRH 373440 and CRH 354302 Registry: Halifax Between: Her Majesty the Queen against Tylor Donovan McInnis Judge: The Honourable Justice Michael J. Wood Heard: March 8, 2012, in Halifax, Nova Scotia Release of Decision: March 28, 2012 (On Sentencing) Counsel: Alonzo Wright, for the Crown Trevor McGuigan, for the Accused By the Court : [ 1 ] I have given consideration to the submissions this morning and I am motivated by the fact that counsel have worked towards a joint recommendation - as Mr. McGuigan said, a true joint recommendation - so I am not inclined to tinker with it. I will say this, Mr.

McInnis, you are in a very unfortunate situation and you have no one to blame but yourself. Having said that, I also get the sense from what I know of the circumstances that you have been hanging around with some people who have not been a very positive influence on you.

There may be people in your life who are a positive influence: your partner, your child, your mother, perhaps, and it seems to me that you should be paying more attention to what those people are saying than some of the people that you have been socializing with or participating with more recently. [ 2 ] These are serious charges, and in particular the weapon charge is a serious charge.

You know as well as I, the problems that exist in Halifax as a result of weapons being in circulation and things can happen in a blink of an eye, and if that had happened in your case, you could be sitting here in a much more dire circumstance.

So I cannot tell you any more clearly that you are in a bad situation, but it easily could have been much worse. [ 3 ] Having said that and recognizing your young age and the lack of a significant record before these events, I do think that the recommendations of counsel are appropriate, and as a result I will impose the sentences that they have suggested in the hopes that this will be the last time that you run into any difficulties with the law, and that you are able to get out at a relatively young age, hopefully get your high school education and then move on and be a productive member of our society. [ 4 ] So with respect to the s. 423.1 (

b) of the Criminal Code charge, I do sentence you to time served on that, being one year and two weeks. With respect to the weapons charge under s. 95(1) of the Criminal Code , I will sentence you to the mandatory minimum of three years custody starting from today ’ s date. On the s. 145(3) breach of your recognizance, I will sentence you to thirty days on that, which will be served concurrently to the three years. [ 5 ] I would note on that, Mr. McInnis, you have had a series of these breach of recognizance/undertaking offences in the past.

By me sentencing you to thirty days now, it means in all likelihood any future breaches, if they are of similar orders, are going to result in jail time in excess of that. It is an increasing level of penalty if you continue to ignore the court orders and the recognizances. So I will sentence you to thirty days on that. [ 6 ] I will also, Mr. Wright, grant the two orders: the one under s. 109 of the Criminal Code (which I will sign right now) and also the DNA order under s. 487. And Mr. McGuigan, I will grant the request to waive any victim fine surcharges. ____________________________ Wood, J.