Northern Man’s Jail Sentence Overturned
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 at 13:31
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal says a lower court should have taken a northern man’s Aboriginal background into consideration before sentencing him to jail time for his role in a fatal vehicle collision.
Joseph Leonard John was sentenced to 3 years in prison last year after being found guilty of criminal negligence causing death.
However, in yesterday’s ruling, the appeal court reduced that to a 2-year conditional sentence — which includes 2 months of house arrest.
The Court of Appeal’s decision was based on sentencing provisions that the Supreme Court has spelled out concerning the unique circumstances and background of Aboriginal offenders.
John’s partner, Linda McIntyre, was killed in a collision on a road near Key Lake in June of 2000.
McIntyre was the passenger of a truck John was driving, which struck a semi-trailer from behind.
During his trial, it was revealed John was travelling 50 kilometres faster than the semi.