Robber granted sentencing circle

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A unique sentencing circle in Saskatoon advised sending a Metis armed robber to jail for 18 months after meeting for more than seven hours April 15.

The circle was the first of its kind to advise a Court of Queen's Bench justice in a Saskatchewan urban centre.

Justice J.D. Milliken called for the 22-member circle after it was requested of him by the Saskatoon Metis community.

Ivan Morin, a 34-year-old Saskatoon man, appealed to the Metis community after learning he faced a 12-year sentence for his second violent robbery in 10 years. The 1982 robbery saw Morin and an accomplice kidnap a store manager after robbing a Saskatoon supermarket. The two men holed up in a Husky House restaurant, holding the manager and a woman trapped in the restaurant for several hours before freeing them unharmed.

The 1992 robbery, which led to the sentencing circle, involved Morin and a white man who was recently sentenced to three years for his part in the second robbery.

The two entered a Saskatoon Super Save gas bar and store and robbed the two teenage attendants of $131. DeeAnna Bryson, now a 20-year-old university student, was choked by Morin during the robbery. The men were captured moments after the May robbery by Saskatoon police officers.

Morin was released on bail, but has been held in custody for seven-and-a-half months after being charged with four breaches of the court order. He still faces trial on those charges and an impaired driving charge.

The crown prosecutor started the sentence circle proceedings by calling for a six to eight-year sentence. If Milliken follows the 18 month recommended sentence of the circle, the Crown is expected to appeal.

Morin began a life of crime at age 12 and was convicted of 34 criminal offenses before the latest series of crimes beginning in 1992.

He was out of prison for seven years and employed as a journalist and researcher until unemployment and personal setbacks led him back to alcohol abuse in 1991, culminating in the 1992 robbery.

Morin appealed to the circle for credit for the seven productive years and asked not to have his capabilities wasted by a lengthy prison term.

Elders, Metis community leaders, police, probation and parole officers wrestled with the problems of community protection from a man who was violent when drinking and the need to redeem a talented man who was productive when sober.

Bryson told Morin she was not angry but she told him his history of a single-parent family, alcoholism and violence was not very different from her own.

"We have made different choices and you must be responsible for yours," she told him. "You look sorry on the outside, but what is in your heart?" she asked.

Bryson asked that Morin should have to perform 100 hours of community service for the Metis community.

The garage owner will receive 40 hours of volunteer labor by Morin.

Metis leaders suggested a two-year suspended sentence but criminal justice personnel who have worked with Morin in the past called for incarceration in the interest of public safety and personal deterrence for Morin.

Agreement was reached with a recommendation of 18 months in a Saskatoon jail. A two-year probation period will be supervised by the department and the Metis community. It will include psychological and abuse counselling, a six-week alcohol abuse treatment at an Alberta facility and personal counselling.

Morin will be required to be employed with help from the community and if unable to work, to volunteer his services for six months at the Saskatoon Friendship Inn.

Justice Milliken is expected to pronounce his sentence later this month.