Crown won’t appeal sentence against former Mountie

The Crown will not appeal the sentence against Benjamin ( Monty) Robinson, the former Mountie who was convicted of obstruction of justice following a fatal 2008 drunk- driving crash.

An appeal court would likely defer to the sentencing judge, and no judicial error had been identified, the Crown’s office said in a news release Friday.

The prosecution had asked for a sentence of up to nine months, but acknowledged the one- year conditional sentence plus a month of house arrest given by B. C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon was not “demonstrably unfit.”

Robinson was facing a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Dillon controversially said during the sentencing that Robinson’s ethnic background, which is aboriginal, was a factor in her decision.

The Crown decided not to pursue drunk- driving charges at the time of the 2008 crash.

In October of that year, while offduty as a corporal in the Richmond RCMP, Robinson was driving a car after drinking five beers at a party. His SUV collided with a motorcycle, killing its 21- year- old rider, Orion Hutchinson.

He left the scene and returned home, consuming two shots of vodka, purportedly to calm his nerves.

The judge found Robinson, 42, intentionally drank the vodka in order to mask his earlier drinking, knowing it would prevent a breathalyzer from accurately measuring his blood alcohol level.

Along with three other RCMP officers, Robinson also faces perjury charges relating to the 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski, who died at the Vancouver International Airport after being Tasered repeatedly and restrained.

Robinson has pleaded not guilty and a trial is set for April 2013.