Crown wants convicted murderer Craig Pope to be ineligible for parole for 12 years
CBC
Convicted murderer Craig Pope will have to wait until the end of the month to hear how long he'll be ineligible for parole while serving his sentence.
In December, a jury found Pope guilty of second-degree murder in the 2017 stabbing death of Jonathan Collins. That verdict comes with a life sentence and no chance of parole for a minimum of 10 years and maximum of 25.
Crown lawyer Shawn Patten argued Friday before Supreme Court Justice Glen Noel in St. John's that Pope should have to wait 12 years to be eligible for parole — the same amount asked for in Pope's first trial — while defence lawyer Mark Gruchy asked for 10 or 11 years.
Patten cited Pope's criminal history, a potential high risk to reoffend, drug issues, and the circumstances around the incident, such as "callously" leaving Collins in the street after the stabbing and not offering aid.
Gruchy said a decade is a long time.
"Mr. Pope will be almost 50 before he gets a chance to apply for parole. I don't know if at the end of the day whether he's 48 versus 50 is going to make a difference."
Gruchy also said Pope has availed of rehabilitation programs during his incarceration to better himself.
On Friday morning, members of the Collins family read out victim impact statements, detailing their grief over his violent killing and how the public court process has affected them.
Collins's mother, Yvonne Noseworthy, told the court she wasn't able to see her son's body for a week after the stabbing because his body was evidence.
She called that "unacceptable and cruel."
"My grief is so intense, part of me left when my son died. The waves of grief come. I call them my tsunami. I don't see them coming and they knock me down," Noseworthy said.
The victim's father, David Collins, died last summer. His statement was read by his daughter.
All family members spoke about the emotional and physical anguish over Jonathan Collins's murder, including health problems.
While they spoke, Pope stared straight ahead.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
After reporting an 11-year high for collision fatalities last year, Calgary is turning to new technology in an attempt to make its roads safer.
There will be no changes to Cambridge's fireworks bylaw — for now.
Eric Huntington built his dream cabin nestled in the wilderness of central Alaska, eventually raising two daughters there. But over the years, he learned that living in this quiet, remote village came with a hefty cost.
Israel's war with Iran has temporarily delayed a reckoning with some of its main Western allies, but seems unlikely to close what has become a yawning gap between them over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.
As the G7 summit concludes in the popular wilderness destination of Kananaskis, Alta., officials say provincial teams managed frequent animal encounters without serious incident.
Toronto police say a 21-year-old man has been charged in an armed carjacking, after he fell from the Gardiner Expressway on Monday night while allegedly fleeing from officers.
Tenants of buildings owned by a wanted fugitive could be safe from eviction if the bank or a new landlord take over, a legal expert says.
Residents of Badger, N.L. are fleeing the community as smoke from a nearby wildfire clouds the air, and waterbombers pass overhead every few minutes.
A Nova Scotia jury has found a 34-year-old man guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of battle rapper Pat Stay, a 36-year-old father of two who was fatally stabbed 2½ years ago at a downtown Halifax nightclub.
Some property owners in Saint Andrews are speaking out against a plan to refurbish the Market Wharf, although the design was chosen by the public in a community vote.
The lone survivor of a mass shooting in a West Broadway rooming house is being mourned by his family after he died in a Winnipeg hospital earlier this month, more than a year and a half after the shooting that left four others dead.
The mayor of Creighton says residents will have to remain patient, as the northeastern Saskatchewan town waits for health-care services to restart in the neighbouring city of Flin Flon, Man.
A rural municipality in southwest Saskatchewan is sounding the alarm as the worst dry conditions in almost a decade push crops and livestock to the brink.