CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Last week, Corner Brook provincial court Judge Wayne Gorman acknowledged the sentence he was handing Anthony Michael Burton wasn't good enough.
Burton, who had been set to go to trial but changed his plea to guilty at the last minute, was convicted of criminal harassment in what the judge said was "yet another case of a male harassing his female partner after a separation."
Burton had intimidated and frightened the woman to the point where she moved out of the province, and that alone, Gorman said, shows both the seriousness of Burton's crime and the legal system's ineffectiveness, at times, in handling such cases.
Burton's actions warranted jail time, Gorman said as he sentenced the 27-year-old, and the judge even went as far as to draft a table on paper showing the jail sentences given to offenders in other similar cases — between one and 16 months — to justify his point.
He stressed the damage Burton had caused the woman, and spoke of the need for the justice system to denounce and deter such crimes.
Still, Gorman gave Burton a suspended sentence and two years' probation, explaining he was bound by law to accept a "woefully inadequate" joint submission from lawyers.
"I conclude that a period of imprisonment would be an appropriate sentence in this case. However, I do not have the authority to reject the joint submission presented," Gorman said.
A suspended sentence means Burton must abide by specific court orders for two years or face serving the remainder of the time in jail.
Burton began harassing his ex-girlfriend in May. While on an order to stay away from her, he drove by her house with his sister — who had been charged with threatening the woman — while they pointed at the woman's house and laughed. The woman called police, who called Burton and warned him that he could be breaching his court order. Burton said he was aware of the order and hung up the phone.
One afternoon later that month, Burton and his sister drove by the woman's home four times before parking across from it and staying there for at least 15 minutes.
"Mr. Burton, by his actions, was telling Ms. X that neither the police nor a court order could prevent him from having contact with her," Gorman said.
The woman said in a victim impact statement that she no longer has confidence in relationships and cries almost every day.
"I feel being able to work and live in Newfoundland, which is where both my children are, is no longer an option for me as a result of all this," the woman wrote. "I felt I had to move to another area for my safety and peace of mind."
Prosecutor Brenda Duffy and defence lawyer Darby Ashton presented the judge with their joint submission. Duffy indicated she was concerned with being able to prove the case against Burton if the trial had gone ahead.
By law, a judge cannot refuse a joint submission on sentencing simply because he or she don't think the sentence is enough.
According to the Supreme Court of Canada, a judge can only reject a joint recommendation if it is "so unhinged from the circumstances of the offence and the offender" that accepting it would send a message that the proper functioning of the criminal justice system had broken down. Otherwise, the Supreme Court ruled, it would remove the incentive for offenders to take responsibility for their crimes by pleading guilty and making a deal with the Crown.
"Criminal harassment is inherently serious. This case illustrates this point." — Judge Wayne Gorman
Gorman questioned the Supreme Court's ruling.
"It is hard to imagine any single sentencing decision ever having this effect, and what do the words ‘break down in the proper functioning of the criminal justice system’ mean?" he said.
The judge said he agreed that a joint suggestion should not be rejected lightly, but made clear his dissatisfaction with the lawyers' submission, saying there was no lawful basis on which he could reject it.
Gorman took issue with the lawyers' categorization of Burton's crime as being on the less serious end of the scale for harassment.
"Though the harassment did not continue over an extended period, this misses the point," he said, suggesting the focus should be on the impact criminal harassment has on victims, particularly when they are female and the offender is their male ex-partner. "Criminal harassment is inherently serious. This case illustrates this point."
It wasn't the first time Gorman had begrudged his own sentencing ruling in a case of domestic abuse. In recent months the judge has displayed a strong stance against men convicted of harassing, assaulting and threatening their female ex-partners, and in his sentencing decisions has denounced domestic violence and pointed out the negative implications of it for victims and the community in general.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
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