Sentencing adjourned for P.E.I. man convicted of forcible confinement, other offences
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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man convicted of a number of offences, together with forcible confinement and capturing a rifle twice inside his residence, had his courtroom matter adjourned over issues with a sentencing advice proposed by the Crown legal professional and his defence lawyer.
Christopher Steven Donovan, 45, pleaded responsible on Jan. 3 in provincial courtroom in Charlottetown to forcible confinement, uttering threats to trigger dying or bodily hurt, mischief for interfering with the lawful use or enjoyment of property, careless use of a firearm, possession of a firearm with no licence and possession of a firearm whereas prohibited by a courtroom order.
Crown legal professional Molly Murphy informed the courtroom that on Nov. 12 at round 10 p.m., a lady gave a press release to the Stratford RCMP that she was at Donovan’s residence in Village Inexperienced between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. earlier that day. She mentioned he grabbed her by her arms, threw her on his mattress to forestall her from leaving the residence. Donovan then grabbed his .22-calibre rifle and fired two pictures right into a wall inside his residence. He additionally yelled that he would shoot anybody who walked up his driveway. The girl finally escaped to her car parked within the driveway. Donovan adopted and tried to get contained in the car, however she was in a position to drive away.
Donovan later texted the girl that he was at her residence in Mermaid. She noticed Donovan’s car in her driveway, so she continued driving and returned when he was gone.
‘Extraordinarily fearful’
At round 5 p.m. that day, Donovan confirmed up once more at her residence, banged on the again door and tried to get inside, so she phoned police.
“She was extraordinarily fearful” and “genuinely afraid of him,” mentioned Murphy.
Donovan was arrested and denied the allegations. Police obtained a search warrant for his residence and seized a number of weapons. As effectively, officers observed contemporary plaster on the wall overlaying the bullet holes, mentioned Murphy.
The girl additionally informed police about an incident in October when Donovan threatened to tie her up inside her residence and burn it down.
Joint sentence advice
Murphy offered a joint sentencing advice with defence lawyer Aaron Giddings. The proposed sentence was comprised of 45 days in jail for forcible confinement, 45 days for breaching a firearms prohibition, 15 days for uttering threats and 15 days for mischief totalling 120 days, or 4 months, and probation. The advice additionally included 65 days of enhanced credit score (1.5 days for every day in custody) for time already served in custody since his arrest on Nov. 12. For the 2 firearms offences, Murphy really useful 30 days every concurrent to the opposite sentences.
“Thirty days concurrent for placing two holes within the wall?” requested Choose Nancy Orr, who then mentioned the advice wasn’t very logical given the seriousness of firing a weapon that Donovan wasn’t even alleged to have in his possession. Murphy responded that she wasn’t the Crown legal professional who was concerned within the decision discussions.
“Nicely, you are the Crown right here at the moment” and “the one who has to justify the advice,” mentioned Orr.
After additional dialogue, Murphy reiterated that one other Crown legal professional was concerned within the decision discussions and added that she could not adequately touch upon the joint sentence advice.
Sentencing adjourned
Giddings tried to defend the advice by evaluating the matter to a earlier sentence involving one other individual. Even with Giddings’ feedback, Orr raised additional issues about not having sufficient background info on Donovan, resembling whether or not alcohol was an underlying problem that must be addressed. It was raised in courtroom that Donovan has a previous prison file.
Orr advised ordering a pre-sentence report to supply the courtroom with additional info on Donovan’s circumstances and background. It has been beforehand estimated in courtroom that pre-sentence reviews often take six to eight weeks to finish.
As a substitute, Giddings requested an adjournment to get additional directions from his shopper on find out how to proceed.
Orr adjourned the matter to Jan. 16.
Donovan is presently being held in custody on the Provincial Correctional Centre.
Terrence McEachern is a justice reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He will be reached by electronic mail at [email protected] and will be adopted on Twitter @terry_mcn.
