Jury to decide cabbie killer's chance for early release

Even the prosecution had to concede that Ali Al-shammari has led a mostly exemplary life behind bars since being convicted of participating in the brutal slaying of a Windsor cabbie 20 years ago.

“The Crown admits he's done well,” said assistant Crown attorney George Spartinos.

But that good life of a man serving a life sentence for first-degree murder should not be enough for the convicted killer to get an earlier chance at freedom, the prosecutor argued before a local jury Wednesday.

“The Crown is opposed to any reduction in the parole ineligibility period,” Spartinos said during closing arguments at a “faint hope clause” hearing before Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance.

After spending half his life behind bars, Al-shammari, 38, applied under rarely used Canadian legislation to seek early eligibility for parole. A 14-member jury spent two weeks hearing testimony ahead of deciding whether Al-shammari should be allowed to appear before the Parole Board of Canada to argue that case.

A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no eligibility to seek parole for 25 years. It's not this hearing jury that decides whether Al-shammari gets an earlier release, simply whether he should be allowed to make his case before the Parole Board.

Defence lawyer Christopher Hicks, in his closing submission, said the planned attack and stabbing death of Thualfikar Alattiya, 41, a cabbie with a young family killed while on the job, was “a horrendous crime.” Family victim impact statements heard during this month's hearing were “heart-rending,” he said.

But the horrible crime on Nov. 19, 2004, was committed when Al-shammari was 19, Hicks said, and since then, “he's improved himself immensely,” including with education and skills learning. He also described as a “remarkable achievement” Al-shammari's progression over his years of incarceration from a maximum- to minimum-security facility.

The judge told jurors that if Al-shammari is ever released again, he will still be serving a life sentence under supervision in the community for the rest of his life.

The jury was receiving instructions from the judge ahead of deliberating Al-shammari's application at the time of the Star's print deadline.