Ontario’s highest court has confirmed a house arrest sentence for a man who took a gun from armed intruders who shot his son and fired it at them from his porch as they ran away.
The Crown attempted to appeal Jason Munroe’s conditional sentence given by the Ontario Court of Justice. However, the province’s Appeal Court rejected the appeal.
“Given the exceptional circumstances of the offence and the significant mitigating factors, we see no error in principle in this case. Nor do we find that the sentence was manifestly unfit,” stated the three-judge panel in an Aug. 19 ruling.
Justice Nathan Baker of the Ontario Court of Justice sentenced Munroe last August to two years less a day of house arrest along with three years of probation.
According to the appeal decision, armed intruders broke into Munroe’s home in Whitby, Ont., forcing him and his family to hide in the basement.
“There was an altercation during which Mr. Munroe’s son was shot. Mr. Munroe wrestled a handgun from one of the intruders and shot one of them. The intruders fled the house. Mr. Munroe chased them. He then stood on his porch and shot at them approximately three times as they were fleeing in their car.”
None of Munroe’s shots hit anyone.
“When the police first interviewed Mr. Munroe, he lied and said that he did not have or use a gun. He subsequently told the police that he used the gun he wrestled from the intruders to shoot at them, saying that he tried to kill them and that, if given the chance, he would have killed them all,” mentioned the appeal decision.
Baker found Munroe “not guilty of any charges related to what occurred in the house while the intruders were still there,” according to the appeal decision.
“The trial judge was satisfied that Mr. Munroe was acting in self-defence.”
However, Baker concluded that Munroe “was no longer acting in self-defence when he shot at the intruders from his porch,” noted the appeal decision.
“The trial judge found Mr. Munroe guilty of reckless discharge of a restricted or prohibited firearm. He also found him guilty of obstruction of a peace officer for lying in his initial statement to police.”
Baker ruled that applying a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for reckless discharge of a restricted or prohibited firearm “was unconstitutional if applied to these circumstances,” sentencing him instead to 729 days of house arrest as per the appeal decision.
The Crown unsuccessfully contested this sentence length, “arguing that the trial judge erred by failing to give proper effect to principles of denunciation and deterrence and that this sentence is demonstrably unfit.”
The Appeal Court disagreed with those arguments.
“There is no doubt that weapons offences are very serious and should generally carry significant custodial sentences, especially where an accused discharges a firearm in public places,” said the panel.
“In his reasons, however, Judge Baker recognized that denunciation and deterrence are usually primary objectives when sentencing someone for discharging a weapon publicly.”
<p“But Baker “also found that this case's circumstances are exceptional,” explained the panel.
“When Mr. Munroe shot at those fleeing on his porch, he wasn’t acting out of self-defence but still reacted strongly after seeing his family threatened and witnessing his son being shot. Furthermore, Mr. Munroe used a handgun taken from one of the intruders; it wasn’t one he’d brought unlawfully.”
The judges highlighted other “significant mitigating factors,” including Mr. Munroe’s shown remorse along with substantial rehabilitative efforts after overcoming difficult early years becoming both a dedicated father as well as having stable employment with good income,” stated the appeal decision.
The panel pointed out too that Munroe “is not avoiding punishment for his convictions; this two years less than one day conditional sentence has strict conditions like house arrest (except for work) along with GPS monitoring,” said the appeal ruling.
This conditional sentence will be followed by three years’ probation – essentially making it maximum available without resulting incarceration.”
Our website is your go-to source for breaking news updates, exclusive stories, comprehensive articles, and engaging commentary pieces-don’t forget to bookmark nationalpost. com and sign up for our daily newsletter called Posted here!
Source link
