Emotionally damaged Nunavut man gets his wish: federal prison

Following joint submissions from Crown and defence lawyers, Eetooloo Ejetsiak will get his wish: a trip out of Nunavut and a prison sentence at a federal penitentiary. (FILE PHOTO)

Eetooloo Ejetsiak, 44, has been granted his wish: a prison sentence in a federal penitentiary.

In a surprising turn of events at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit Feb. 18, Ejetsiak’s defence lawyer, Joseph Murdoch-Flowers, and Crown prosecutor Zachary Horricks entered a joint submission, accepted by Justice Bonnie Tulloch around 5 p.m.

In it, lawyers agreed to a 36-month global sentence on all charges — minus two months for time already served at the Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit.

“You cannot plead guilty in my court just to get matters over with, do you understand that?” Tulloch asked Ejetsiak.

“Yes, I do,” he said.

The submission included 15 convictions — 14 of which Ejetsiak pleaded guilty to — on charges stemming from incidents last summer and a newer set of incidents this past January, ranging from uttering death threats to one count of assault causing bodily harm.

Most of the eight charges laid in January involved uttering death threats to justice system workers in Iqaluit, and threatening a shooting spree at Iqaluit’s Northmart.

“I’d like to be sentenced for all the charges. I’m pleading guilty to every one of them, right now,” Ejetsiak told Tulloch.

“I don’t want to sit in BCC and wait for another trial date.”

In a Jan. 2 video shown in open court Feb. 12 at his sentencing hearing, the 44-year-old Iqaluit resident appeared to have been abused inside an RCMP holding cell by three RCMP officers

Murdoch-Flowers had entered the video footage of the RCMP holding cell when making sentencing submissions before Tulloch Feb. 12.

His client deserved particular consideration under the Supreme Court of Canada’s Gladue principles — relevant when sentencing Aboriginal offenders — Murdoch-Flowers argued.

But with the joint submission, the defence lawyer told Tulloch he no longer holds a position on the video, entered as an exhibit.

Tulloch, citing decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada, said she would have required to give the Crown an opportunity to provide the full context of the video.

Horricks, earlier in the day, said he intended to call the three RCMP officers who entered Ejetsiak’s cell to testify, as well as an expert on the use of force to “explain why it was appropriate for [the officers] to deal with the accused in the fashion that they did.”

But instead, Tulloch said the video would not form any part of her sentencing.

The video shows Ejetsiak pacing around his cell before taking off his shirt and wrapping it around his neck. He then sits down on one of the cell’s benches.

Three RCMP members enter Ejetsiak’s cell — one pointing what appears to be a taser gun at the prisoner’s chest — and remove all of his clothing.

As the officers back up towards the door, Ejetsiak stands up and attempts to kick one of the officers.

The officers then jump on Ejetsiak and appear to punch him until he’s left lying on the cell floor in the fetal position with what looks like a small puddle of blood collecting beneath his face.

Later that evening, police took him to hospital where he received stitches to close a wound on his head.

The Nunavut RCMP “V” Division issued a news release Feb. 18 that disagrees with this characterization of the video shown in court.

“Based on Mr. Ejetsiak’s behaviour, as well as the situational and environmental factors, RCMP officers removed Mr. Ejetsiak’s clothing to prevent him from harming himself,” the release said.

“Mr. Ejetsiak then became agitated and assaultive towards RCMP officers resulting in a police use of force.”

The statement said that RCMP would conduct a review of the holding cell incident.

During sentencing submissions, Horricks said the officers removed the prisoner’s clothing “in order to protect Mr. Ejetsiak from himself.”

“[Mr. Ejetsiak] received stitches as a result of a strike to the face that he received after he engaged the officers in physical confrontation,” Horricks said.

Horricks pointed out that Ejetsiak’s long criminal record, including many run-ins with the RCMP, as an aggravating factor for Tulloch to consider in issuing a sentence.

Especially relevant are acts of aggression and violence towards members of the justice system, the RCMP, and the community at large, Horricks said.

Among Ejetsiak’s 114 convictions since 1984 are six counts of assaulting a police officer, three counts of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm.

“Mr. Ejetsiak has, by the looks of his record, through his entire life, been in conflict with the law and been in conflict with the RCMP and members of the community,” Horricks told Tulloch.

But Tulloch, in her sentencing remarks, said that Ejetsiak’s criminal record is mirrored, somewhat, by his medical record.

“He has been admitted to the hospital many, many times and a lot of the times it was for his own safety because he had many attempts at suicide, a lot of depression… and situational crises,” Tulloch said.

“It appears clear that Mr. Ejetsiak needs intensive psychiatric intervention.”

In taking the Supreme Court of Canada’s Gladue principles into account, Tulloch pointed out Ejetsiak’s longstanding experience with physical abuse, substance abuse and failed attempts to take advantage of social services.

The murder of Ejetsiak’s mother and brother in 1986 was turned into a TV movie — an event that continues to exert a legacy of suffering, Tulloch said.

Ejetsiak, 16 at the time, had already experienced years of physical abuse from family members and an addiction to sniffing solvents.

He had also been molested by Ed Horne, the notorious pedophile teacher.

“The accused has endured unimaginable suffering in his life,” Tulloch said.

“It is very clear that there are no resources in this territory to deal with Mr. Ejetsiak’s matters… It appears that in order to protect the community, we need to send you outside of Nunavut.”

After receiving Tulloch’s sentence, Ejetsiak leaned over and spoke to his lawyer.

“My client is indicating that he’d like to leave the territory and start his sentence in the penitentiary as soon as he can,” Murdoch-Flowers told Tulloch.