A veteran judge cited a groundbreaking Supreme Court of Canada decision as his reason for letting an aboriginal woman out of jail after she breached court orders and assaulted another woman.
The judge's decision flies in the face of the woman's own lawyer and the Crown, who had agreed a short jail sentence was warranted for her crime.
Justice M.G. MacLeod said "it would serve no purpose" to Leslie Beaudry or the administration of justice to keep her in custody for what he called a minor assault in March.
He cited a Supreme court decision commonly known as the "Gladu decision" relating to the sentencing and treatment of aboriginal offenders in Canada's criminal justice system.
The Gladu decision states, among other things, aboriginal offenders make up far too great a number of the inmate population in this country, said MacLeod.
Beaudry was on a conditional sentence and probation and ordered to not consume alcohol when she confronted another woman she knew in front of a downtown mall two months ago.
She slapped the woman in the face, but did not cause any injuries, said assistant Crown attorney Susan Bruce.
When police arrived, they detected a smell of alcohol on Beaudry's breath, she said.
Bruce asked the court to impose a sentence of an additional 45 days, while defence counsel Alex Toffoli suggested perhaps another 30 days behind bars was more appropriate.
Court heard Beaudry had spent the past two months behind bars since her arrest.
Even though Beaudry was under court orders to stay out of trouble and not consume alcohol, this was a minor assault, and the time the accused has spent in custody is a sufficient penalty, said the veteran judge.
Considering the circumstances of the case, sentencing her to further time would add to her "alienation and estrangement" and would not serve any purpose to her or the criminal justice system, he said.
MacLeod also refused to place Beaudry under any other court orders once she was released.
Toffoli told the court Beaudry grew up in a dysfunctional family and turned to alcohol to cope with her problems. While she has a lengthy criminal record, almost all the convictions relate to her alcohol problem, and she doesn't have any history of violence, he said.
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