Nunavut judge to announce sentence in manslaughter case next month

Justice Sue Cooper issue a sentencing decision on an Iqaluit woman who pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter on May 31 in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit. Eulalie Ussak, 53, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last October. (FILE PHOTO)

Justice Sue Cooper will wait until May 31 before issuing a sentencing decision on an Iqaluit woman who pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter, calling the matter “a very difficult case.”

Eulalie Ussak, 53, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last October, conceding that her actions contributed to the death by smoke inhalation of her husband, Ken MacFarlane, 50.

Standing side by side with her sister, Ussak told the court April 25 that she’s sorry for MacFarlane’s death.

“I should have walked away… I hate that shack. I thought if the shack was gone, it would stop. I didn’t know anyone was going to hurt, I hurt everyone by pouring the gas,” Ussak said.

With her sister’s hand on her shoulder, Ussak started crying.

“I am so sorry to my family and Ken’s family, I still miss him, and think about him a lot… I learned that I am not alone, that my sister and my family love me and they’re here for me,” she said, as two other family members in the courtroom cried with her.

Ussak said that if she could, she would change what happened.

“I understand that I did bad things,” she said.

Ussak’s made her apology after Crown prosecutor Leo Lane criticized her first apology: “I’m sorry he passed away, I forgive him for all the things he’s done to me,” given in testimony a day earlier.

Defence lawyer Laura Stevens said after hearing the Crown’s April 25 submissions, that she did not agree with Lane’s assertion that Ussak was being “self serving.”

She said the case warrants a suspended sentence and probation, with a prohibition against alcohol, “because she does need help.”

“The more rational explanation [is that] she finds it painful to talk about her being the subject of serious, long-term abuse,” Stevens said.

It’s especially hard for Ussak to talk about sexual abuse, she said.

It’s common for people in abusive relationships to under-report the abuse and show a “false positive” presentation, Stevens said.

In Ussak’s case, there was no premediation, she said.

However, she said there was a risk factor in pouring the gasoline that she ought to have seen.

Ussak was a victim of the deceased, Stevens said.

The psychiatrist who diagnosed Ussak with post-traumatic stress disorder is an expert in the field of PTSD, but is not a specialist, she told the court.

“It was very clear that he considered that a very significant source of trauma for her,” Stevens said of the shack fire incident.

For her, the link between the shack fire and the disorder is “utterly clear.”

Ussak fled the home she lived in with MacFarlane many times in fear.

“The unlawful act of arson was targeted at the shack, [not MacFarlane],” Stevens said.

“It was to make him leave the shack… She believed that he would leave the shack,” she said.

In the pre-sentence report, Ussak’s description of her upbringing was more positive than what she described in court April 24 and April 25.

“She was lying to everybody,” Stevens said.

That’s because Ussak has a hard time disclosing information about her private life, she said.

“It is very evident how hard it is for her to speak about these things,” Stevens said.

Ussak’s contradictions are “not a product of the desire to deceive” but an inability to cope emotionally.

Stevens stressed the importance of taking into consideration that Ussak is an Inuk.

Ussak’s parents did not drink, and raised 20 children, Stevens said.

Some mitigating factors, according to the defence, include Ussak’s guilty plea, her background as a hard working and caring mother, and her work at the women’s shelter and as a youth support worker.

Since the offence, Ussak has been unable to find work.

She lost her career, and her home, for which she was paying a mortgage.

“She had equity in that… she was the only person contributing to the mortgage,” Stevens said.

The house was the “only asset of any significance that she’s ever had.”

Ussak, who’s been on release for more than three years, has not breached any conditions, which include a prohibition on drinking alcohol.

She spent about 40 days in custody, staying at the Baffin Correctional Centre with only one other female inmate.

The two women, locked up for 23 hours a day, were only allowed out to make a phone call at 11 p.m.

And they were subjected to obnoxious treatment from other inmates, who were all men.

After the other female inmate was moved to a Nova Scotia, Ussak was put into segregation.

During her time at the BCC, Ussak lost a lot of weight, dropping to less than 90 pounds from 130 lbs., and developed bad skin allergies.

She refused to go to a centre in the South, because it would take her away from her family.

About 100 people in Rankin Inlet signed a petition to bring Ussak back to the community, Stevens said.

“She has excellent support… [her] children and grandchildren will suffer greatly if she is removed,” she said.

Ussak said in her testimony April 24 that in the future, a goal of hers would be to teach sewing to others.

Crown and defence agreed that Ussak is a low risk to re-offend.

There is no minimum sentence for manslaughter, except in cases where a firearm was involved, and the maximum sentence is life in prison.

A sentence for manslaughter can range from probation to life in jail.