Court will determine dangerous offender status

Raymond Charles Yellowknee, left, is led into a Slave Lake courtroom by a law enforcement official Nov. 19.

Patrick Keller
For the South Peace News

A sentence hearing that began on Nov. 13 could set a precedent for Canadian law as it unfolds in Slave Lake provincial court. Raymond Charles Yellowknee, 35, of Wabasca, has pleaded guilty to four counts of reckless driving causing death, four counts of criminal flight from police causing death, theft over $5,000 and driving while suspended. Eight other charges were dropped in a plea deal. Misty Chalifoux, 28, her daughters, Trista, 9, and Larissa, 6, and her stepdaughter Michelle Lisk, 13, all of Driftpile Cree Nation, were killed when a stolen pickup truck driven by Yellowknee slammed into their Pontiac Sunfire on Jan. 20, 2006. Yellowknee was attempting to evade police. What sets this sentencing hearing apart is the dangerous offender status the Crown hopes to pin on Yellowknee. It could be a first for a Canadian charged with driving-related offences. In 2003, an Ontario court stopped short of designating a man a dangerous offender stemming from driving offenses. The man instead was given long-term offender status which includes, above his prison sentence, 10 years probation. Dangerous offender status is typically reserved for crimes of a sexual or physically violent nature, perpetrated by repeat offenders. It can mean a lifetime in jail. This is where the waters get murky for the Crown. Should Yellowknee be labeled a dangerous offender due to driving infractions if the Crown can predict accurately that he will re-offend? Yellowknee admitted he stole a vehicle which was then involved in a fatal accident. The issue is whether or not the Crown can prove he intended to use the vehicle as a weapon, or that he selected his victims with foresight or intention. To be labeled a dangerous offender, a criminal has to be proven to be a serious risk to reoffend in a similar matter. Yellowknee has a lengthy criminal record, with over 60 convictions including some for violent crimes, most occurring while behind bars. Yellowknee has two other convictions involving stolen vehicles and accidents. Before the events of January 2006, a stolen vehicle driven by Yellowknee collided with two vehicles, including a police cruiser. It caused $20,000 damage. No one was seriously injured. A second chase in High Prairie ended in an accident in 2000. The Crown is arguing a pattern is emerging. They are arguing Yellowknee clearly has no problem with stealing vehicles and driving recklessly. Several accidents and jail time have not deterred his behaviour. While in prison, Yellowknee accum- ulated 22 institutional charge convictions, including possession of weapons in his cell, assaulting inmates and staff, threats and indicating his desire to kill a guard. Yellowknee has also failed rehab programs while in prison. David Dear of the Alberta Justice Institute could not speak on the case as it stands before the court. He was quick to offer the Crown’s view regarding the driving-related charges, however. “We would stand behind any effort to label a person a dangerous offender where repeat criminal behaviour has caused death," he says. Graham Stewart of the John Howard Society says dangerous offender designation is rising, partly because of information technology that links criminal behavior. However, public opinion is also weighing heavily. “The public seems to believe that we can predict with accuracy future violence,” Stewart says in a Canadian Press news release. “The courts are liking it. They’re using it more and more,” says Shandy-Lynn Briggs, a parole supervisor in Toronto and Corrections Canada expert in law. “Nobody’s been designated a dangerous offender because they’re a Boy Scout," adds Stewart. Brad Odsen of the John Howard Society in Edmonton, says his group has over 70 years of experience in such cases. “Our position is clear," he says. “The society’s beliefs are two-fold. First, people can and do change. Number two, in relation to Yellowknee, we understand that he has a long history with drugs and alcohol. We know with certainty that addictions can be dealt with. In these cases we are dealing with what we call false positives, we are looking at a crystal ball. Do we really know he will re-offend?” The society’s says research proves that as offenders get older, their offending rate drops and often ends. Odsen says the defence will likely look to the mens rea of the crime - Latin for “guilty mind”. Meanwhile, the Crown must try to prove that Yellowknee intended to commit homicide when he set out committing the crimes of that night. Regardless, Yellow- knee will be in prison for a long time. The hearing takes place over the next several weeks in Slave Lake provincial court, with some sittings in High Prairie. The Crown hopes to close its arguments in early December. Between 1977 and 2004, 405 people were labeled dangerous offenders in Canada. Of those, only 26 were paroled.

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