A.J.

Reese: Case Study

From: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/ssoc9/html/intentoftheyouthcriminaljusticeact_cc.html

When A. J. got his driver's license, he could not wait to take his friends out for a drive. On a Saturday
evening in the spring, A. J. and a group of his friends piled into the car and headed out from Lacombe
toward Leduc.

When they pulled up to a stoplight, a sporty car filled with another group of teens pulled up alongside.
As they waited for the lights, the two cars began to rev their engines. When the light turned green the
sporty car accelerated quickly. Not to be outdone, A. J. stepped on the gas, squealing tires, and his car
followed in hot pursuit. The two cars sped down the road reaching speeds well above the speed limit.
Suddenly, another car turned the corner into the path of the speeding cars. Swerving to avoid a
collision, A.J.'s car hit the curb, flew across a lawn and smashed into the front of a house. Luckily, A. J.
and his friends received only minor injuries but the front end of the car was destroyed and the house
suffered several thousands of dollars in damage.

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 Jane Bennet: Case Study
From: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/ssoc9/html/intentoftheyouthcriminaljusticeact_cc.html

While at the mall with a group of friends, Jane saw a sweater that she had seen in a magazine. It would
be perfect for her to wear at an upcoming family event. The problem was that the sweater cost
considerably more than Jane could afford.

She decided to try on the sweater anyway. It was a perfect fit! Her friends all told her how amazing the
sweater looked on her and that she just had to have it. When Jane stated sadly that she could not
afford it, some of her friends offered to distract the sales people in the store so that she could slip the
sweater into her bag. After much thought, Jane agreed. As she headed out of the store, the alarm
sounded. She had been caught.

John Smith: Case Study

From: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/ssoc9/html/intentoftheyouthcriminaljusticeact_cc.html

Late one summer, John Smith attended a party at a friend's house. At the time, John Smith was 16
years old and was looking forward to returning to high school the next month. During the party, at
which both drugs and alcohol were consumed, an argument broke out between some friends of the
accused and some uninvited young men who had shown up around 11:30 p.m. When the accused
attempted to intervene, he was confronted by one of the uninvited young men. In retaliation, Smith,
the accused, punched the young man causing him to fall and strike his head. Smith was charged with
assault causing bodily harm.

Lee Allan: Case Study

The killer, if cops in Saskatchewan are right, will never be charged. The suspect blamed for murdering six-
year-old Lee Allan Bonneau is safe from criminal prosecution, being just a child himself — and though the
kid in custody is apparently a troubled boy well-known to RCMP on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation,
there’s no way for police to charge him under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act.
“I will confirm that the person responsible for Lee Bonneau’s death is under the age of 12. Any further
comment on this tragedy will have to await our media availability,” an RCMP spokesman told reporters
Saturday.

That press conference is slated to take place on Tuesday — until then, those closely impacted by the brutal
death can only speculate about the fate of a kid who may be Canada’s youngest-ever killer.
“It’s just so sad, and if the rumours are true, and someone that young is responsible, then nothing will
happen — there’s nothing they can do,” said Mary Jo Herman, who drove the bus Bonneau rode to school
each day while living in Odessa, a small village about 60 km southeast of Regina.
Bonneau was found on Aug. 21, his head bashed in, shortly after his frantic foster mother reported the boy
missing.

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He’d only been living on the reserve and with his new foster parents for a few weeks, having suddenly been
removed from Odessa, where he lived with his mom. That night, the boy and his guardian had gone to the
Kahkewistahaw sports complex for bingo night, and the foster mom had given Bonneau some money to buy
a treat. But the animal-loving boy, who would have started Grade 2 this week, stopped to play with a dog
just outside the hall. His caregiver watched him play, then took her eyes off Bonneau for a few moments.
Those few moments later, he was gone.

“It’s just so very, very sad — I’d known him since he was in kindergarten and he was just a cute little boy,
lots of friends,” said Herman, who went to Bonneau’s funeral on Friday. Just hours after the funeral, police
confirmed a child suspect had been taken into custody by social services. The underage murder suspect
had allegedly killed Bonneau, leaving him for dead near some woods a short distance away. The panicked
foster mom had asked others in the bingo hall to help look for Bonneau: One of those searchers was Bobbi
Alexson, who ended up being among the first to find the dying child. “We dropped what we were doing at
the bingo hall, and assisted. Door to door, road to road, building to building. Unfortunately, we were too
late to find that poor boy and bring him back safely,” wrote Alexson, on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation
Facebook page.

Alexson has since started a petition seeking to establish a community patrol and curfew to improve safety
on the reserve, a suggestion the band is taking seriously. He’s been praised for his candid assessment of
social strife on the reserve, which he calls “a terrible home” for kids and adults alike. “The kids do bad
because they have no one to guide them, show them from right and wrong,” wrote Alexson, days before the
arrest.“The kids I see are rude, hateful and terrible.”

Alexson wouldn’t elaborate when contacted by the Sun, saying he would await Tuesday’s press conference.
While children under the age of 12 can’t be criminally charged in Canada, those who commit serious
offences can be forced into treatment by social services, including psychological counselling. Whatever
happens, Alexson said his petition is still valid, and he wants to see change for his family and others who
live there.
“It’s about safety for everyone on the reserve — it’s the same thing over and over again,” said Alexson.
“It has to change.” 

Youth Case Study

A young woman who was speeding, texting and had been drinking before she caused a crash that
killed two teens has been sentenced to two years in prison and one year mandatory community
supervision.
The teen cried as she was led out of the court room in handcuffs. Family and friends of the victims
hugged outside the courtroom.Her car was going 20 km/h over the speed limit when it collided
with the victims’ car at the corner of Bishop Grandin and St. Mary’s Road in 2010. Court heard she
had been texting and using cruise control, and had a blood alcohol level of at least .07.

Amutha Subramaniam, 17, and Senhit Mehari, 19, were killed. Two of the three other passengers
seriously injured. One of those injured was Lysbeth Arthur who sustained serious head injuries,
“It’s 2015, it’s almost been five years so at this point we’re happy to finally hear a sentence.”  But
she also says the injuries and trauma from the injury will stick with her forever. Anita
Subramaniam, the older sister of Amutha Subramaniam, says the sentencing brings a welcome end
to the court case but her family is still left picking up the pieces, “This is not the end of the road for

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us.  This is a nightmare that we were forced into and it’s something that is a reality for us every
single day.”  She also says they “weren’t given justice.”
The woman, who was a youth at the time and cannot be identified under the youth criminal justice
act (YCJA), pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of
criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

The Crown asked for an adult sentence of 5 years in prison but judge Karen Simonsen rejected
their application.  The defense requested a youth sentence of a maximum one year in custody.  The
teen sat in the prisoners box, her mom at her side, as her sentence came down.  Simonsen said it
was the harshest possible sentence she could have delivered under the YCJA. The court room was
overflowing with friends and family of the victims, many of them wearing t-shirts with pictures of
the victims on the front and “don’t drink & drive” written on the back.
 
Before delivering the sentence, the judge recalled some of the agreed facts of that night.
The teen had been at two parties and her friends attempted to take her keys away at one of them
but couldn’t. She also often drove and texted at the same time before the collision but thought she
was able to “multi-task.”

The Crown alleged she planned to drink and drive that night, based on a text message exchange
with a friend.  They also say after she was being fingerprinted following the crash, she was more
concerned about when she would get her driver’s license back than the condition of the victims
and later, about whether or not she would be able to drink on her 18th birthday.
Psychologists who assessed the teen said she has signs of PTSD and ADHD and had been getting
treatment for both. She was assessed at a low risk to reoffend and showed remorse for her actions.

David Michael Vincett: Case Study

David Michael Vincett, 20, was shot and killed on Sept. 25 2011 on Boyd Street in Winnipeg.
At 13 years old he levelled a sawed-off shotgun at a Canada Post worker. At 14, he was arrested
and charged with first degree murder in what police believe to be a gang motivated killing. Now,
the Crown is petitioning the court for an adult sentence should he be convicted.

The teenager, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is facing trial for the
shooting death of David Michael Vincett, 20, in Winnipeg’s hardscrabble north end. Mr. Vincett
was shot after he crossed paths with the teenager at around 3 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2011, according to
the Winnipeg Police Service, who say the two spoke about respective gang affiliations before the
shooting. Although Mr. Vincett appears to have no gang affiliations, the youth is reportedly tied to
the Indian Posse, though police would not confirm this. The same youth attempted to rob a 51-
year-old Canada Post employee while brandishing a sawed-off shotgun, firing but missing his
target, on Nov. 25, 2010.

The youth pled guilty and instead of a mandatory four-year minimum sentence he would have
served as an adult, was conditionally released about six months after his arrest. Less than a year
later, he was back in custody on the Vincett murder. Should the teenager be found guilty, an adult
sentence could mean that he faces a life sentence and would not be eligible for parole for 25 years.
As a youth, his maximum sentence would be 10 years, only six of which would be in custody.

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The younger a person is, the less a chance that there’s going to be an adult sentence “For certain
cases which include murder, the Crown is now [under the Youth Criminal Justice Act] required to
consider [an adult sentence],” said David Milward, professor of criminal law at the University of
Manitoba. “I think the younger a person is, the less a chance that there’s going to be an adult
sentence. That is by no means certain,” said Nicholas Bala, law professor at Queen’s University and
an expert in youth criminal justice. “We have had 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds receive life sentences,
[but] we have a tendency to see the younger they are the less we should be holding [them]
accountable as an adult,” Mr. Bala said.

The suspect is a reported member of the Indian Posse, considered to be one of the largest street
gangs in Canada, reportedly claiming over 12,000 members. Violent feuds with rival gangs in
Winnipeg are not uncommon. Police suspect the Vincett shooting is connected to the stabbing
death of Clark Stevenson, 15. Mr. Stevenson had bragged online about his membership with a local
street gang, reportedly the Indian Posse. If Mr. Vincett had claimed membership to a rival gang
when speaking with the accused, police say, the shooting could be a retaliation for Mr. Stevenson’s
death. The preliminary hearing to determine if the case will go to court has just begun. While the
decision on adult sentencing does not have to be announced until a guilty verdict is declared, the
Crown must make the petition now.