Supreme Court overturns sentence
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PORT HARDY - A 10-month jail sentence against Joseph Paul Rufus was reduced to two months, Oct. 7 in B.C. Supreme Court.
Sentencing judge Brian Saunderson failed to give Rufus double credit for time served when sentencing him Feb. 26 for assault causing bodily harm at the Thunderbird Mall a year earlier, said a judgement written by Mr. Justice Tysoe.
Rufus admitted “one count of assault causing bodily harm and one count of carrying a weapon for a dangerous purpose,” wrote Justice Tysoe. “Apparently motivated by revenge for an assault by the complainant of the appellant’s brother, the appellant approached the complainant from behind in a shopping mall, struck him on the side of his face and, after the complainant had fallen to the ground, kicked him in the face.
“The complainant suffered a broken nose, which required surgery, broken teeth and bruising and lacerations on his face,” Justice Tysoe continued. “At the time of sentencing, the complainant had continuing migraine headaches and light sensitivity.”
Rufus was 23 years old at the time of the sentencing, wrote Justice Tysoe, and had 18 offences on six different dates on his adult criminal record at the time, including three assault convictions, one conviction for uttering threats and one conviction for possession of a weapon.
Rufus was held in custody for eight months after being charged, said Justice Tysoe, and Crown counsel Leeanne Mascolo and defence counsel Doug Marion agreed 18 months’ incarceration was appropriate, before any credit for pre-sentencing custody. Both counsel agreed Rufus should get a minimum credit of 16 months for his pre-sentencing custody, based on the usual two-for-one credit.
“The sentencing judge agreed with the assessment of 18 months’ incarceration on the first count, but he only gave a one-for-one credit in respect of the pre-sentence custody,” wrote Justice Tysoe. “As a result, he imposed a sentence of 10 months’ incarceration on the first count.”
In my opinion, the sentencing judge should have given the appellant credit of 16 months for the time he spent in custody prior to the sentencing,” said Justice Tysoe. “It is for these reasons that I agreed to allow the appeal by substituting a period of incarceration of two months in place of the ten-month period of incarceration imposed by the sentencing judge.”
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