Man sentenced to two years in death of spouse

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE CAUSING DEATH

When Sara-Jean Big Sorrel Horse passed out after heavy drinking more than two years ago, her common-law spouse tried to nudge her awake. When that didn’t work he hit her, and when that failed he stood over her and dropped on her chest and body.

Big Sorrel Horse, 37, died the following day, and Monday in Lethbridge provincial court Jimmy Lynn Badman pleaded guilty to one count of criminal negligence causing death and was sentenced to two years in jail.

Badman was set to have a preliminary hearing Monday on a charge of manslaughter, but last-minute discussions between the Crown and Badman’s lawyer, Mansoor Khan, resulted in a plea to the lesser charge.

Crown prosecutor Michael Fox told court Badman and Big Sorrel Horse were drinking June 26, 2015 in Moses Lake on the Blood Reserve in an area known as Tent City. Badman had just received his Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped cheque and went to Lethbridge to buy alcohol. When he returned to Tent City he and Big Sorrel Horse began drinking with a few other people.

The highly intoxicated woman eventually passed out and when Badman couldn’t revive her, he jumped on her body. She sustained dozens of injuries, including displaced rib fractures and a lacerated lung and liver. She was also bleeding from the pancreas and there was a tear in her bowel. Although official cause of death was blunt force trauma, Big Sorrel Horse bled to death, Fox said.

Despite her injuries, she didn’t die until later. She awoke the next day and went into town with Badman. On the walk back to Tent City she collapsed and never recovered. Badman called 911 from a friend’s house and Big Sorrel Horse was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Badman, 43, wasn’t arrested until February of this year and initially elected to be tried by a Court of Queen’s Bench judge and jury with a preliminary hearing. That week-long hearing was set to begin Monday until Badman changed his plea to guilty.

“I never meant for this to happen,” an emotional Badman said when he was given a chance to address the court. “I loved her a lot.”

In a joint submission to the court, the Crown and defence recommended a sentence of two years and a lifetime firearms ban. Fox pointed out Badman has a lengthy criminal record, which includes numerous convictions for assaults with and without weapons.

“He has a number of convictions for violence,” Fox said.

Khan explained his client suffers from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and has been on AISH for most of his life. His parents and siblings all attended residential schools and suffer from their own addictions.

Badman survived by collecting bottles and cashing them in to buy intoxicants, which is typically how he spent his monthly AISH cheques.

Judge Eric Peterson acknowledged Badman’s disadvantaged upbringing, and

accepted his assertion that he never intended to harm or kill Big Sorrel Horse. But his attempt to waken or revive her after she passed out was “wholly misguided.”

As he was led out of the courtroom to begin his sentence, Badman waved and smiled to individuals he recognized sitting the gallery.

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