Top court upholds sentence in gas-and-dash killing

The 10-year sentence handed a Calgary man for running over a gas station clerk trying to stop him from stealing $113.23 in diesel was justified, Alberta’s top court ruled Friday.

But in their unanimous decision, the three-member Alberta Court of Appeal panel agreed with defence counsel Balfour Der the lifetime driving prohibition handed Joshua Cody Mitchell was excessive.

In upholding Mitchell’s 10-year sentence for manslaughter in the June 9, 2015, death of Maryam Rashidi, the appeal judges said Justice Allan Macleod did not allow public interest in the case to sway his decision.

The appeal court disagreed with Der’s assertion Macleod “doublecounted” by finding Rashidi’s death was an aggravating factor since it was necessary for a conviction. They pointed to the fact Macleod only sentenced Mitchell to an additional one year (instead of the two sought by the Crown) for the offender fleeing the scene.

“In light of the circumstances of that offence, involving not merely a matter of leaving the broken body of Ms. Rashidi on the road but engaging in a hazardous driving pattern to escape, the Crown’s position that a longer sentence was in order was certainly arguable,” the appeal judges wrote.

Mitchell was originally charged with second-degree murder, but a jury agreed with trial lawyer Kim Ross there was no evidence he intended to kill Rashidi or cause her grievous bodily harm and was reckless whether she died.