Appeal court reduces man’s drug sentence because of Aboriginal status
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador’s highest court is divided over how to address the aboriginal status of a man who only briefly mentioned he was Mi’kmaq at his sentencing on drug charges.
The province’s Court of Appeal reduced Joshua Aaron Bennett’s jail term from 39 months to 23 months, saying the sentencing judge hadn’t considered Bennett’s aboriginal status.
Bennett pleaded guilty to multiple drug charges after being found with two pounds of marijuana, 1,300 ecstasy tablets, 135 grams of cocaine and crack cocaine, and about $18,000 cash, over two occasions in 2010 and 2011.
Canadian judges are obliged to consider an aboriginal’s status before sentencing, but Bennett’s lawyer hadn’t sought the usual report on the issue — known as a Gladue report — that lays out an aboriginal offender’s personal circumstances.