Crown seeks 14 years, defence 10 years of parole ineligibility in murder
Shaune Brown turned to face Cory Fleetwood’s family before apologizing for fatally stabbing his long-time friend in the bedroom of his Bethune St. apartment on Aug. 30, 2012.
“I don’t know what really to say,” he said as he rose Monday morning in the prisoner’s box in Peterborough Superior Court of Justice as he was given an opportunity to speak after sentencing submissions were heard. “I did say sorry. I didn’t mean to kill Cory.”
The Toronto man, who was convicted of second-degree murder on Feb. 2, addressed Fleetwood’s mother and brother directly as they sat in the body of the court.
“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to kill him, or waste your time, either,” he said before turning around and thanking Justice Bruce Glass and defence lawyer Christopher Hicks for their efforts throughout the three-week jury trial, which got underway Jan. 9 with jury selection.
Fleetwood, 29, the morning baker at the Ashburnham Dr. Tim Hortons location, died after suffering 30 sharp-force injuries to his body.
Brown, 33, will receive an automatic life sentence and not be eligible for parole for 10 to 25 years.
The trial judge is now deciding his parole ineligibility period and will reveal his decision when the matter returns to court Thursday.
Assistant Crown attorneys Kelly Eberhard and Sam Humphrey argued Brown shouldn’t be eligible for parole for 14 years, while Hicks argued he should be eligible in 10 - the minimum number unanimously recommended by the eight-woman, four-man jury.
In her submissions, Eberhard pointed out Brown’s 11 convictions and 3 1/2 years spent in jail on unrelated criminal matters, including gun-related charges and a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon, a knife, in 2008 and 2001, respectively.
One can infer he was not deterred by his previous sentences, she said. “That was his opportunity to rehabilitate himself ... and here he is today.”
The prosecutor also argued that Brown’s potential to cause future harm is “significant,” asking Glass to consider his past to “foreshadow” his future.
Later during his submissions, Hicks said “it would be difficult” for someone with Brown’s troubled upbringing not to have a criminal record like his, calling it “inevitable.” The record does not include, however, violent offences, he added.
Eberhard also detailed the misconducts Brown has been convicted, or accused of, while in custody at jails in Lindsay and Toronto.
In April 2013, he was found to have assaulted a fellow inmate, she said. Two months after that, he and another inmate assaulted a third prisoner. That December, he pleaded guilty to possession of “home brew” made for his own consumption.
In January 2015, he made two attempts to exit his cell while his cellmate was being secured. Three months later, he was found with a makeshift weapon he said he made for self-defence.
In February 2016, he was charged with assault causing bodily harm for an attack on two correctional officers that saw him punch one in the jaw and attempt to jam his thumb in a woman’s eye before being peppersprayed. That charge remains before the courts in Toronto.
In September 2016, Brown was also found with a homemade weapon, Eberhard said. “It’s clear Mr. Brown has not taken the opportunity ... to better himself or his behaviour.”
Later, Hicks said his client has spent 4 1/2 years in “adverse” conditions in some of the “worst” jails in Ontario and been subject to more than 850 days in the isolation of lockdown. By law, he will not be given enhanced credit for his time in custody, either, he pointed out.
The 11 statements filed by Fleetwood’s family and friends made it “poignantly clear” that his death has had a profound impact on them, Eberhard said before reading two of them aloud.
The day her son died used to be just another day, wrote Jo-Anne Thiele, who described being left “numb” and “helpless” by the crime.
Because she used to visit her sons eGlass will deliver his sentencing decision Thursday at 9:30 a.m.