DLM
12-10-2004, 03:56 PM
Alberta Mountie who shot prisoner gets house arrest for manslaughter
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. (CP) - A former RCMP officer convicted of killing a drunken prisoner who had grabbed his gun was sentenced Friday to house arrest for two years less a day.
Mike Ferguson had been through two second-degree murder trials that ended in hung juries before a third jury found him guilty of manslaughter in October. He voluntarily went to jail while he awaited his sentence.
But Justice Ged Hawco of Court of Queen's Bench agreed with a constitutional challenge mounted by Ferguson's lawyer and ruled Friday that he should serve no more time behind bars.
Defence lawyer Earl Wilson had argued that the Criminal Code provision for a minimum four-year sentence for manslaughter with a firearm should not apply to a police officer, who has to use a gun for his job.
Ferguson was also ordered to do 500 hours of community service and attend counselling. He was also prohibited from using or possessing a firearm.
He was serving as a constable in the southern Alberta town of Pincher Creek when he arrested Darren Varley, a 26-year-old truck driver, for public drunkenness in October 1999. He said he was acting in self-defence when he shot Varley in the head and the abdomen during a jail cell struggle.
Ferguson's lawyer had argued that a jail term would amount to cruel and unusual punishment since Ferguson would have to do his time in protective custody, which amounts to solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.
"He's a cop and he's a cop who killed a prisoner," Wilson said during sentencing arguments. "His life is always in danger. Some of these fellows don't need anything even remotely close before they are prepared to cause significant harm to other prisoners."
Wilson also noted that as a police officer, Ferguson was duty-bound to carry a weapon as opposed to someone who picks up a gun to commit a crime.
Crown prosecutor Rick Saull countered that the shooting was deliberate and Ferguson deserved to be treated no differently than anybody else.
He had asked Hawco for a sentence of more than six years in prison.
"It's not in the public interest to have that person sentenced to something significantly less than any one of you would be sentenced to had you done that," Saull said in sentencing arguments.
"This is not manslaughter through criminal negligence. This is manslaughter of a deliberate act. The unlawful act of manslaughter should attract higher penalties."
Varley's friends testified a group of them ended up in hospital after a night of drinking and a scuffle.
They said Ferguson was called to the hospital after Varley became confused about his fiancee's whereabouts and started telling people she had been abducted by someone in a van.
But the officer's arrival only served to escalate tensions, and the two men got into their first altercation, leading to Varley's arrest.
Witness Laura Weatherill, one of Varley's group, testified that Ferguson was so angry and hostile that her sister called the supervisor of the local RCMP detachment to complain.
Ferguson took Varley to police holding cells. He testified that the two of them got into their second fight of the night, at which point Varley grabbed his gun.
While determining what sentencing arguments the lawyers could make, Hawco agreed that Varley had grabbed Ferguson's gun but also noted the officer was able to wrest it back before the prisoner could use it.
Hawco also said the jury must have determined that Ferguson was no longer in danger when he fired his second bullet.
Ferguson had served with the force for more than 19 years, working at Alberta detachments in Lethbridge and Peace River as well as Pincher Creek. He moved to Kamloops, B.C., about six months after the shooting.
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. (CP) - A former RCMP officer convicted of killing a drunken prisoner who had grabbed his gun was sentenced Friday to house arrest for two years less a day.
Mike Ferguson had been through two second-degree murder trials that ended in hung juries before a third jury found him guilty of manslaughter in October. He voluntarily went to jail while he awaited his sentence.
But Justice Ged Hawco of Court of Queen's Bench agreed with a constitutional challenge mounted by Ferguson's lawyer and ruled Friday that he should serve no more time behind bars.
Defence lawyer Earl Wilson had argued that the Criminal Code provision for a minimum four-year sentence for manslaughter with a firearm should not apply to a police officer, who has to use a gun for his job.
Ferguson was also ordered to do 500 hours of community service and attend counselling. He was also prohibited from using or possessing a firearm.
He was serving as a constable in the southern Alberta town of Pincher Creek when he arrested Darren Varley, a 26-year-old truck driver, for public drunkenness in October 1999. He said he was acting in self-defence when he shot Varley in the head and the abdomen during a jail cell struggle.
Ferguson's lawyer had argued that a jail term would amount to cruel and unusual punishment since Ferguson would have to do his time in protective custody, which amounts to solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.
"He's a cop and he's a cop who killed a prisoner," Wilson said during sentencing arguments. "His life is always in danger. Some of these fellows don't need anything even remotely close before they are prepared to cause significant harm to other prisoners."
Wilson also noted that as a police officer, Ferguson was duty-bound to carry a weapon as opposed to someone who picks up a gun to commit a crime.
Crown prosecutor Rick Saull countered that the shooting was deliberate and Ferguson deserved to be treated no differently than anybody else.
He had asked Hawco for a sentence of more than six years in prison.
"It's not in the public interest to have that person sentenced to something significantly less than any one of you would be sentenced to had you done that," Saull said in sentencing arguments.
"This is not manslaughter through criminal negligence. This is manslaughter of a deliberate act. The unlawful act of manslaughter should attract higher penalties."
Varley's friends testified a group of them ended up in hospital after a night of drinking and a scuffle.
They said Ferguson was called to the hospital after Varley became confused about his fiancee's whereabouts and started telling people she had been abducted by someone in a van.
But the officer's arrival only served to escalate tensions, and the two men got into their first altercation, leading to Varley's arrest.
Witness Laura Weatherill, one of Varley's group, testified that Ferguson was so angry and hostile that her sister called the supervisor of the local RCMP detachment to complain.
Ferguson took Varley to police holding cells. He testified that the two of them got into their second fight of the night, at which point Varley grabbed his gun.
While determining what sentencing arguments the lawyers could make, Hawco agreed that Varley had grabbed Ferguson's gun but also noted the officer was able to wrest it back before the prisoner could use it.
Hawco also said the jury must have determined that Ferguson was no longer in danger when he fired his second bullet.
Ferguson had served with the force for more than 19 years, working at Alberta detachments in Lethbridge and Peace River as well as Pincher Creek. He moved to Kamloops, B.C., about six months after the shooting.