Ruling will not be appealed, Muzzo’s lawyer says

There will be no appeal of Marco Muzzo’s sentence, his lawyer Brian Greenspan confirmed Tuesday after the penalty was imposed.

Criminal defence lawyer Daniel Brown, who was not involved in the case, said an appeal would have “no shot” anyway, as higher courts have recognized a trial judge’s wide latitude in reaching the appropriate sentence.

He also described Justice Michelle Fuerst as “appeal-proof,” meaning she has a reputation for producing balanced and well-researched reasons that are difficult to have overturned.

“Recent Supreme Court jurisprudence has spoken to the fact that judges can deviate from the sentencing ranges where it’s appropriate and this is one of those cases where it was clearly appropriate to deviate slightly from the sentencing range and to elevate it,” he said.

Greenspan himself unsuccessfully tried in 2011 to reduce the eight-year sentence imposed on London, Ont. man Andrew Kummer. He had argued for five years, but the Court of Appeal found that because Parliament decided the maximum punishment for impaired driving causing death is life in prison, it must “remain in the realm of possibility” that a life sentence could be imposed by a trial judge.