Iqaluit man guilty of aggravated assault awaits April 17 sentencing

An Iqaluit man who pleaded guilty to almost beating another man to death will be sentenced April 17 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

Geteonie Kopalie, 25, who appeared in court April 16, is due to appear again in court April 17, when Justice Andrew Mahar is expected to give his judgment in the case.

Mahar told the court April 16 he had started his judgment, but that he would deal with the sentencing on the following day.

Kopalie had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, in connection with the beating of another man, Edward Norman, at Norman’s Apex home in July 2011.

Norman suffered a brain hemorrhage because of the incident, and now is unable top manage on his own.

Defense lawyer Mandy Sammurtok said in a submission April 16 that one of the reasons Kopalie was involved in this violent incident was because his biological father, who was raised as his brother, committed suicide in 2007.

Because of that, Sammurtok said Kopalie “lashed out in anger and used alcohol as a crutch.”

Sammurtok brought up the Gladue principle. That directive from Parliament asks judges to recognize that a history of colonization, residential schools and cultural repression has affected generations of indigenous men and women, leading to a severe over-representation of aboriginal people in Canada’s prisons.

Mahar responded by saying that the principle does apply to “even the most violent situations.”

“If the accused is aboriginal, the court must consider all things,” Sammurtok said.