Woman who pointed gun, threatened son gets house arrest
A Paradise woman who pointed a gun at her son and threatened to kill him has been sentenced to six months of house arrest.
Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Valerie Marshall considered Brenda Mercer’s medical issues during her sentencing, calling them a significant factor.
Mercer, 51, has suffered three strokes since she was charged, and uses a wheelchair as a result. She has no use of her left arm, takes 15 different medications, has some cognitive issues and requires daily assistance, the court heard.
“As suggested by defence counsel, in light of her physical limitations and needs, the impact of a period of incarceration could indeed be greater on Ms. Mercer than the impact of the same period of incarceration on another offender with no such issues,” Marshall said, but acknowledged accommodations can be made in prison for those with physical conditions.
Mercer’s son went to her home one evening in November 2016, after she had texted him and told him that she was unwell.
During the visit, Mercer became upset and demanded that he return a number of items, which he had taken from her months before, including a pink 22-calibre firearm. He also took a box of ammunition and a cable lock still in the packaging.
The man, who had a gun licence, told police he had taken the items because he believed his mother didn’t have a licence for the gun or a legitimate purpose for it. He had borrowed it with her permission, but admitted he hadn’t intended to give it back to her, and had painted it green and used it for target shooting. The man said he didn’t believe he had any choice but to return the firearm to Mercer that night, the court heard.
When the man gave the unloaded firearm back, he put a yellow cable lock on the firearm for safety, laid it on his mother’s front step, and walked away. He threw the keys for the trigger lock on the doorstep.
When he started to drive out of the driveway, he heard Mercer yelling to him and crying. He got out of the car and walked toward her. They both agreed they didn’t want to fight, but Mercer’s behaviour then changed and she began yelling at him again, saying he was no good and didn’t care about her anymore. Mercer then picked up the gun and pointed it at her son from her hip, telling him there was a bullet in the gun for him.
The man described his mother’s demeanour as aggressive and incoherent, saying “she wasn’t herself” and suspecting it was because of her prescription drugs.
The judge opted not to rely on a report by a toxicology expert who indicated an interaction between two of Mercer’s medications was possible and could have caused her behaviour.
Because there had been no way to confirm what medications Mercer had actually taken that day, the report was speculative, the judge ruled.
Marshall did, however, accept that the incident was out of character for Mercer, despite Mercer’s extensive criminal record.
“In my view, the criminal record of Ms. Mercer is so dated and so unrelated to the current offence that it has minimum impact as an aggravating factor,” Marshall said.
House arrest is not the sentence Mercer’s crimes would normally attract, the judge said, but the specific circumstances of the case warranted it.
Mercer’s house arrest will be followed by a 12-month period of probation.