Teen gets 5 years for killing man

[Praxius]

18-year-old sentenced as adult for stabbing after Pizza Pop argument
Teen gets 5 years for killing man - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

One minute they were arguing about how long it takes to cook a Pizza Pop in a microwave oven, and the next they were swinging at each other with knives.

A Halifax teen has been sentenced to five years behind bars for stabbing a man to death at a housewarming party last spring.

Brandon John Anderson, 18, was sentenced Monday in Halifax youth court after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of Paul Saunders, 21.

"There is nothing the court can do to turn back the hands of time and bring a life back into being," Judge Pam Williams said.

"We’re left with the consequences of this shockingly pointless episode."

Mr. Anderson had been scheduled to go on trial Monday for second-degree murder in connection with the April 5 stabbing at a Cowie Hill Road apartment building in Halifax.

Mr. Saunders was stabbed once in the chest and twice in the back and died in an ambulance en route to hospital.

The defence did not oppose the Crown’s application to have Mr. Anderson, who was 17 at the time of the crime, sentenced as an adult.

Judge Williams accepted the lawyers’ joint recommendation and imposed an adult sentence of five years, minus a year’s credit for remand time.

Mr. Anderson will be allowed to serve his sentence at the Nova Scotia Youth Facility in Waterville until he turns 20 in October 2010, at which time he’ll be transferred to a federal prison.

Nobody from the victim’s family was in court for Monday’s sentencing.

Crown attorney Jennifer MacLellan told the court that Mr. Saunders’s aunt had planned on attending but had to stay home to babysit after school was cancelled for the day.

Mr. Saunders had just moved to Halifax from Quebec and was looking forward to starting a job at a Sobeys grocery store, Ms. MacLellan said.

The prosecutor said Mr. Saunders’s death was a "terrible tragedy" for his family, who are saddened that his one-year-old daughter in Quebec will never get to know her father.

Mr. Anderson was bound by two probation orders at the time of the stabbing, Ms. MacLellan said, and has 21 prior convictions.

Given the opportunity to address the court before he was sentenced, Mr. Anderson said he wanted to apologize to Mr. Saunders’s family.

"I’m just sorry for everything that happened," he said. "It was a mistake."

"If it was the other way around, I know my family would be devastated. I feel their pain."

"If I could go back in time, I would. It’s just like a bad dream."

Yeah I heard all that crap before.... Oh I'm so sorry I killed the guy over a friggin 30 cent pizza pop.... it's like a bad dream man..... yeah, what kind of dream do you think it is for the family you nit wit?

21 previous convictions? He should have been given more then just 5 years if that's the case, idiot kid or not..... how the hell does a kid get to live free and have the ability to stab and kill someone after having 21 prior convictions and being under 2 prob. bonds?

After the 5th damn conviction I would have toss his ass in jail.

According to the agreed statement of facts read into the court record, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Saunders were among several people attending a party in Apt. 309 at 41 Cowie Hill Rd. The tenants of the apartment were Justin Publicover and Aaron Skidmore.

The party was loud and boisterous and there were several arguments. Sometime between 3:30 and 4 a.m., Mr. Saunders and Mr. Anderson, who had both been drinking, got into an altercation.

Mr. Anderson stabbed Mr. Saunders at least once inside the apartment. Mr. Saunders, while holding a knife, then chased Mr. Anderson from the apartment and down the hallway to the third-floor elevator foyer.

As Mr. Publicover and Mr. Skidmore struggled to get the situation under control, all four young men ended up in an elevator going from the third floor to the 10th floor. Just as the elevator doors opened, Mr. Anderson reached over and stabbed Mr. Saunders, who collapsed in the 10th-floor foyer.

Mr. Anderson ran down the stairwell to Apt. 309, warned two girls there not to talk to police and left the apartment. He phoned his mother, who picked him up somewhere else.

Yeah typical thug mentality around here.... a crime is commited and they tell everyone to keep their mouths shut so they can get away with it..... why? So they can get away with killing someone else?

Friggin scum around here make me sick. (Mind you, not everybody is scum, but those around here who are scum, I have no sympathy for them)

Meanwhile, Mr. Publicover and Mr. Skidmore moved Mr. Saunders, who was bleeding heavily, to the lobby on the ground floor. Mr Saunders was taken away in an ambulance but died before paramedics could get him to the hospital.

Mr. Anderson was arrested without incident at his Williams Lake Road home the next day and has remained in custody.

The statement of facts doesn’t say whether Mr. Anderson was carrying a knife when he arrived at the party that night or grabbed one in the kitchen of the apartment.

Outside court, Ms. MacLellan said she couldn’t comment on the origin of the knife.

"It would be hard to describe this incident as anything but unfortunate," defence lawyer Stan MacDonald said in his submissions. "A dispute over something as benign as a Pizza Pop escalated into something that spiralled out of control."

"At various points, both Brandon and Mr. Saunders were armed with knives. It wasn’t a one-way street. Unfortunately, it resulted in the untimely death of Mr. Saunders."

Mr. MacDonald said his client is an intelligent young man with "real potential to do well in the future."

With now 22 convictions under his belt? I don't bloody think so... lock his corrupt little ass in jail for the rest of his life. He had plenty of time to show his potential and the only thing he's shown so far is how to be a thug.

Mr. Anderson’s supervisor in Waterville described the teen as low-key, quiet and respectful, while a teacher at the facility said he is highly motivated to learn, presents no difficulties in class and has made steady progress.

The superintendent of the youth facility told Mr. MacDonald that Mr. Anderson is welcome to stay there until his 20th birthday, provided he doesn’t pose a threat to others.

Yeah so he's a great kid so long as you keep the knives and other weapons away from him and don't say anything to piss him off.

In return for Mr. Anderson pleading guilty to manslaughter, the Crown offered no evidence on eight other charges, including uttering threats, intimidating witnesses and breaching probation.

As Mr. Anderson left court, he told his family: "I love you, OK? I’ll call you tonight."

Just another day in Halifax with youths.

 

[tracy]

OK,not to be harsh, but why would you chase someone who has already stabbed you once to continue the fight?

 

[Praxius]

OK,not to be harsh, but why would you chase someone who has already stabbed you once to continue the fight?

Well if I got stabbed, as I've always said, if I'm gonna die I'm going to take someone with me.... if not everybody.

But then again, to answer your question, they were both drunk. And if they wern't drunk, then how else can a Pizza Pop create a knife melee? But whatever the dead guy's intentions with chasing him down with a knife, Anderson was the one who apparently created the situation and stabbed first, and then a few more times, and then attempted to cover his tracks as helplessly as he could by telling people to not rat him out to the cops.

But what got me in this whole story is that this Anderson fella had 21 convictions prior to this incident and I personally don't care if your a minor or a fully functioning adult lunatic..... that's a hell of a lot of convictions and I can for sure say this guy never seen much of those convictions spent behind bars, or else he'd already would have been behind bars at the time of this incident and thus, this situation might not have ever occured.

Just getting back to a previous point I made..... 5 convictions for a minor I consider excessive and jail time should be spent for those with at least that number of convictions..... 21 is totally unacceptable, esspecially for someone who was 17 at the time of his 22nd crime.

Something seriously needs to be done.

Apparently the last 21 convictions wern't enough of a sign that the guy is a bit messed up in the head. To me, it doesn't matter if he serves soup to the homeless, or is a brain wiz in school..... he apparently was a threat/danger to society and that is all that matters at this point.

 

[bobnoorduyn]

OK,not to be harsh, but why would you chase someone who has already stabbed you once to continue the fight?

That might have been a mitigating factor in sentencing, Justice Canuck style. But in any case Youth + Booze/drugs + lack of supervision = stupidity.

Seems to me Archie Billard avoided any serious time in the clink irrespective of numerous convictions and breaches of court orders, until he finally killed someone while joyriding in a stolen car.

 

[JLM]

"Mr. Anderson was bound by two probation orders at the time of the stabbing, Ms. MacLellan said, and has 21 prior convictions."- It's pretty hard for me to come to terms with a lenient sentence given the past of the accused (unless of course most of the priors were for fishing without a license or something of that nature).

 

[Praxius]

That might have been a mitigating factor in sentencing, Justice Canuck style. But in any case Youth + Booze/drugs + lack of supervision = stupidity.

Seems to me Archie Billard avoided any serious time in the clink irrespective of numerous convictions and breaches of court orders, until he finally killed someone while joyriding in a stolen car.

Yes, it would seem that the system doesn't take any of it seriously at all until someone is dead.

People should be given one and only one chance, but once they show signs of continually breaking the law and not learning from their previous encounters to smarten the hell up, then lock them away and make sure they know that life isn't always going to be a free run.

 

[Scott Free]

Anyone who eats Pizza Pops is obviously capable of anything.

 

[JLM]

Anyone who eats Pizza Pops is obviously capable of anything.

Even if it's only once in a blue moon?..........:lol:

 

[Praxius]

"Mr. Anderson was bound by two probation orders at the time of the stabbing, Ms. MacLellan said, and has 21 prior convictions."- It's pretty hard for me to come to terms with a lenient sentence given the past of the accused (unless of course most of the priors were for fishing without a license or something of that nature).

I somewhat agree, but even if they were all fishin violations or riding his bike late at night with no bright clothing or reflectors/lights..... having 21 convictions, be that minor or serious, clearly shows a total lack of respect for the law and a very high chance of repeating.

And I bet once this dork gets out of jail, he'll just continue on adding to his records and will simply increase danger to the rest of society.

Maybe he just thought he could continually get away with things and started to get all caught up into the Matrix or something...... now he got caught and there is no escape....

So Mr. Anderson, we meet again.

 

[JLM]

" having 21 convictions, be that minor or serious, clearly shows a total lack of respect for the law and a very high chance of repeating."- Not to mention a fairly high stupidity quotient.