Canada Judgment

Supreme Court of British Columbia

R. v. Wilkinson

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Source document

01

Holding and result

The court clarified and corrected numerical sentencing computations: the accused had been in custody for 933 days; dead time is allocated as 312 days under Count 1 of the s.95 conviction, 200 days under Count 1 of the drug trafficking indictment, 310 days under Count 2 of the drug indictment and zero days under Count 3; 933 days of dead time are subtracted from the total sentence, resulting in 1,257 days left to serve. These corrections do not materially alter the sentence imposed and align the warrants of committal with Corrections' records.

Court disposition

Sentence computation and custody credit clarified; numerical corrections ordered; substantive sentence unchanged in length.

Orders

  • Supplementary reasons for sentence issued to correct numerical errors in original oral decision.
  • Custody credited at 933 days total.
  • Dead time allocated as: 312 days under Count 1 of the s.95 conviction; 200 days under Count 1 of the drug trafficking indictment; 310 days under Count 2 of the drug indictment; 0 days under Count 3 of the drug indictment.
  • 933 days subtracted from the total sentence; 1,257 days remaining to be served.
  • Copies of these reasons to be sent to Corrections and counsel.

02

Material facts

Parties

Regina

Prosecution Counsel: P. Cheeseman; B. Lansdowne

James Christopher Wilkinson

Accused Counsel: C. Hodson

Amounts and remedies

  • Dead Time Days: 933
  • Time Left to Serve Days: 1,257
  • Total Sentence Days: 2,190

03

Procedural history

  1. Posture

    Criminal Sentencing / Supplementary Reasons for Sentence / Clarification After Sentencing Hearing

04

Questions and positions

Legal issues

Party arguments

Applicant
Corrections and Crown requested clarification and correction of the numeric computation of custody credit and dead time allocation to ensure records and warrants of committal accurately reflect days credited; submitted changes are not material and do not alter the time to be served.
Respondent
Defence counsel, acting as agent for the accused, agreed to the numerical corrections and confirmed the changes do not constitute a material change to sentence and that the custodial time to be served remains consistent with Corrections' records.

05

Court’s reasoning

  1. 01

    Common law; sentencing jurisprudence

    Totality principle governs aggregate sentence to ensure overall sentence is just and proportionate

  2. 02

    Sentencing principles under the Criminal Code and sentencing practice; operational application by Corrections

    Credit for pre‑sentence custody (dead time) must be accurately calculated and applied to sentence

06

Ratio, limits and disposition

Ratio decidendi

The court clarified and corrected numerical sentencing computations: the accused had been in custody for 933 days; dead time is allocated as 312 days under Count 1 of the s.95 conviction, 200 days under Count 1 of the drug trafficking indictment, 310 days under Count 2 of the drug indictment and zero days under Count 3; 933 days of dead time are subtracted from the total sentence, resulting in 1,257 days left to serve. These corrections do not materially alter the sentence imposed and align the warrants of committal with Corrections' records.

Obiter and limits

  • All counsel agreed the amendments are not material changes to the sentence.
  • Corrections' records control operational computation of time to be served once judicial crediting is clarified.

Court disposition

Sentence computation and custody credit clarified; numerical corrections ordered; substantive sentence unchanged in length.

  • Supplementary reasons for sentence issued to correct numerical errors in original oral decision.
  • Custody credited at 933 days total.
  • Dead time allocated as: 312 days under Count 1 of the s.95 conviction; 200 days under Count 1 of the drug trafficking indictment; 310 days under Count 2 of the drug indictment; 0 days under Count 3 of the drug indictment.
  • 933 days subtracted from the total sentence; 1,257 days remaining to be served.
  • Copies of these reasons to be sent to Corrections and counsel.

Source and reliance status

Supreme Court of British Columbia · 17 June 2021

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Judgment text

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Source document

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Judgment· 17 June 2021

2021 BCSC 1186

2021 BCSC 1186 R. v. Wilkinson

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Citation: R. v. Wilkinson, 2021 BCSC 1186 Date: 20210617 Docket: 179263-3 Registry: Victoria Docket: 42009-2 Registry: Duncan Regina v. James Christopher Wilkinson Before: The Honourable Mr. Justice Steeves Supplementary Reasons for Sentence Counsel for the Provincial Crown: P. Cheeseman Counsel for the Federal Crown: B. Lansdowne Counsel for the Accused: C. Hodson Place and Date of Trial/Hearing: Victoria, B.C. March 29, 2021 and April 1, 2021 Place and Date of Judgment: Victoria, B.C. June 17, 2021 [1] On November 26, 2020 I found the defendant, Mr. Wilkinson, guilty of three counts under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Information 42009-2). He subsequently pled guilty to the unrelated charge of possession of a prohibited firearm under the Criminal Code (Information 179263-2). [2] On April 1, 2021 I sentenced Mr. Wilkinson under the two Informations. I sentenced him to four years' jail for the firearms offence and a total of four years concurrently for the drug offences. On the totality principle I reduced the sentence to three years for each information, for a total of six years. Mr. Wilkinson had been in custody since July 20, 2019. [3] Corrections has asked for clarification in my April 1, 2021 oral sentencing decision, 2021 BCSC 896. A video hearing was held with counsel on June 15, 2021; Mr. Wilkinson could not be reached

for the hearing but his counsel appeared as his agent. All counsel agreed on the changes below. None of the changes are a material change. The time to be served from my sentencing decision is the same number of days as currently recorded in the Warrants of Committal. [4] The changes to the April 1, 2021 decision are: Paragraph 2: Mr. Wilkinson had been in custody since July 20, 2019 and it was agreed that he had been in custody for 933 days (not 929 or 930 days). Paragraph 35: The time in custody was 622 days (not 629 days). With a 1.5 multiplier the number of days is 933. The last sentence of paragraph 35 is amended as follows: For the purposes of dead time, I assess the dead time at 312 days, under Count 1 of the s. 95 conviction, 200 days under Count 1 of the drug trafficking indictment, 310 days under Count 2 of the drug indictment and zero days under Count 3 of the drug indictment. Paragraph 73: 933 days (not 961) of dead time is subtracted from the total sentence. [5] Paragraph 75: Time left to serve is 1,257 days (not 1,229). That is consistent with the current records of Corrections. [6] I am sending a copy of these reasons to Corrections as well as to counsel. "J. J. Steeves, J." The Honourable Mr. Justice Steeves

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Authorities

Authorities used by the court

Cases, legislation, regulations, and constitutional provisions identified in the available record.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

Legislation

Legislation referenced in the available case record.

Criminal Code

Legislation

Legislation referenced in the available case record.

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