The recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of consecutive sentences predicts that Alek Minassian will be sentenced to life imprisonment without the right to parole of 25 years for the Toronto bombing in 2018. His sentencing hearing is delayed because of Bissonnette’s case in the nation’s highest court.
Alek Minassian has yet to be convicted for the attack that left ten dead and 16 injured in North York north of the city. A seriously injured woman died of her injuries in October.
The 29-year-old Torontonian was found criminally responsible in March 2021 for the April 23, 2018 attack on Yonge Street. He was then automatically sentenced to 25 years in prison.
At the time, the judge and the Crown at his trial were, however, awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of the consecutive sentences in Bissonnette’s case before determining whether the justice system could impose a heavier sentence. to him for the amount of murder ..
The accumulation of periods of ineligibility for parole before 25 years is now prohibited in the country, as the highest court ruled on May 27 that consecutive sentences were unconstitutional under section 12. of the Charter.
The Supreme Court agreed with the Quebec Court of Appeal, which ruled that the fact of not offering Alexandre Bissonnette a realistic hope of parole constitutes a cruel and unusual punishment in case he can show that he can re socialize.
Some groups, such as the Toronto Police Association, have unsuccessfully urged the highest court to uphold the 2011 amendment, arguing that murderers who have committed more than one murder should have no verdicts.
Judge Anne Molloy, of the Superior Court of Ontario, therefore has no possibility of imposing a sentence of 250 years on Minassian, i.e., the accumulation of ten sentences of 25 years each (we do not count the 11th victim, note of the Editor).
It should also convict him of 16 counts of attempted murder in which he was convicted in connection with the survivors of the attack.
The Crown has never indicated to date whether it intends to seek consecutive sentences against the perpetrator of the attack anyway.
On the other hand, Alek Minassian’s defense is expected to propose a simultaneous sentence for his client’s crimes, by certainly provoking the cruelty of additional sentences.
With the release of April 5 as the date for today’s hearing ahead of the Supreme Court decision, however the judge admitted that the families of the victims and the survivors of the attack could no longer wait. speak of Torontonian judgment.
He said some families had indicated their intention to continue more than four years after the tragedy.
The hearing on Monday morning was therefore an opportunity for the families of his victims and survivors of the attack to present to the magistrate their statement on the impact of the crime on their lives over four years.
Alek Minassian is expected to be sentenced immediately after their testimony.
The killer is still incarcerated at the Toronto South Detention Center. When sentenced, he will be transferred to a prison in the country.
Gerald Fillion
Source: Radio-Canada
