SUPREME COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA
Citation: R. v. Stevens, 2010 NSSC 133
Date: 20100401 Docket: CR. No. 314200
Registry: Halifax
Between:
Her Majesty the Queen
-and-
Keith Gordon Stevens
LIBRARY HEADING
Judge: The Honourable Justice Robert W. Wright
Heard: April 1, 2010 in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Oral
Decision: April 1, 2010
Written
Decision: April 13, 2010
Subject: Sentencing for the offence of discharging a firearm within intent to wound or endanger life (s.244) and related offences - joint recommendation on sentencing.
Summary: The offender entered a plea of guilty to two counts of discharging a firearm with intent to wound or endanger life, unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle and breach of probation. An agreed statement of facts was provided whereby the offender admitted shooting at two individuals who had surrounded his car in a parking lot outside a bar. One of these individuals was struck in the throat and seriously wounded and will require further surgery to maintain his ability to speak.
Counsel presented a joint recommendation that the offender be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of six years (less credit for time served on remand on a 2 for 1 basis), together with corollary orders authorizing the taking of a DNA sample and imposing a weapons prohibition ban under s. 109(2).
Issue: Whether joint recommendation should be accepted as a fit and proper sentence.
Result: The joint recommendation fell within the acceptable range of sentencing outcomes for the subject crimes under the guidance of the case authorities which the court was referred to. The joint recommendation was therefore accepted by the court, resulting in a further term of imprisonment of 42 months from the sentencing date onward.
THIS INFORMATION SHEET DOES NOT FORM PART OF THE COURT'S DECISION. QUOTES MUST BE FROM THE DECISION, NOT THE COVER SHEET.