Woman sentenced for stabbing spouse
A woman who stabbed her common law spouse several times during a drunken dispute in 2015 has finally been sentenced.
Brandy Melane Callihoo, who pleaded guilty in September 2015 to aggravated assault, was sent to jail for 90 days, which she will be allowed to serve on weekends.
The sentence is exactly what defence sought, while the Crown had recommended a sentence between two and three years.
Although Judge Gordon Krinke acknowledged that denunciation and deterrence are the overriding principles of sentencing, he stressed additional factors must be considered when sentencing an aboriginal person, including the destructive impact of residential schools and other negative influences that have contributed to an overrepresentation of aboriginal offenders in Canada’s jails.
Krinke said those factors, along with Callihoo's personal circumstances and specific trials in life — ill health, alcohol abuse, physical abuse, attempted suicides — reduce her moral blameworthiness.
Lethbridge police were called to a westside residence March 22, 2015 after a woman dialled 911 and reported a bleeding man had banged on her door for help. When police arrived, they found Ian Little Moustache on the steps of the home, his shirt and pants soaked with blood. Police were able to follow the trail of blood to a nearby residence where they arrested Callihoo.
Callihoo, 39, and Little Moustache had been drinking heavily the day before in a home nearby, but the following morning they began to argue in the kitchen. Callihoo picked up a steak knife while her victim picked up a mop to defend himself before attempting to flee. He ran into the dining room and tried to escape through a door but it was locked. Callihoo stabbed him from behind before he was finally able to get out of the house.
Little Moustache, who has since fully recovered, sustained stab wounds to the front of both thighs, two in the back and one in the head. The cut to his head had to be stapled closed, and he suffered a collapsed lung.
Callihoo initially pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and three counts of breaching a recognizance, but she changed her mind and, on the day of her trial Sept. 23, 2015, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault.
In addition to her jail sentence, Callihoo was placed on probation for two years, during which she must participate in the Kainai Peacemaking Program, which focuses on Blackfoot restorative practices. She is prohibited from possessing certain weapons and firearms for 10 years, and others for life, and she is not — with some exceptions — to have any contact with Little Moustache. She must attend school or get a job, take counselling, and submit a sample of her DNA for the National DNA Databank.
Her lawyer Greg White, said after the hearing that despite efforts to address the overrepresentation of aboriginals in jails, nothing has changed in more than two decades. He said he hopes Krinke's decision will help spark a change in that trend, and similar rulings will be applied to more aboriginal offenders in other jurisdictions.
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