Young man gets three years for 2nd-degree murder

A 20-year-old Iqaluit man convicted as a young offender of second-degree murder in the 2002 death of Davidee Nowdlak will be free from custody in about six months.

The young man, whose name may not be published or broadcast, was only two months shy of his 18th birthday when he was charged with the crime in August of 2002.

In July of that year, while in a drunken rage, the young man attacked Nowdlak on an Iqaluit street near the 300-block, kicking him repeatedly on the side of the head and smashing him in the face with a full bottle of Coca Cola.

After lapsing into a coma, Nowdlak, 47, died later at the Baffin Regional Hospital.

The young man avoided an adult trial and an adult sentence because his lawyers, in 2003, persuaded a judge to hold his trial in youth court, under the terms of the Young Offenders Act, which was still in force at the time of the offence.

Because of that, the toughest sentence available to the court was four years of custody, followed by a supervision period of three years.

After finding him guilty this past October, Justice Earle Johnson sentenced the young man to three years in secure custody on Jan. 14.

But he will get credit for two-and-a-half years already served at Iqaluit’s secure youth custody centre awaiting trial —giving him only six months left on his custody sentence.

In his sentencing judgement, Johnson acknowledged the seriousness of the young man’s crime, saying Nowdlak’s violent death was a great trauma that exposed Nowdlak’s family to a “terrible ordeal.” He described a victim’s impact statement from Nowdlak’s daughter, Tanya Nowdlak-Gladue, as “heart-rending and moving.”

But at the same time, Johnson found that the young man “underwent a remarkable transformation” during his two and a half years in custody.

According to the young man’s pre-sentence report, he completed a drug and alcohol program, an anger management program, and became a leader of other youth at the centre.

“It is clear to me that [the young man] has gained insight into his conduct and has made significant progress in his rehabilitation,” Johnson said.

After he leaves custody, the young man must submit to a two-year period of supervision by a probation officer. During that time, he must:

* keep the peace and be of good behaviour;
* appear before youth justice court when required to do so;
* report to police when instructed by his probation officer;
* report to his probation officer when arrested or questioned by police;
* attend addictions counseling, anger management counselling, family counselling, and various education and training programs, as directed by his probation officer;
* make “reasonable efforts” to look for a job;
* reside with his sister in Apex and not change his address without the permission of his probation officer.

He’s forbidden to possess firearms and ammunition for 10 years, except for the purpose of hunting outside Iqaluit’s municipal boundaries, and he must surrender a sample of his DNA for storage in a national data bank.

The Young Offenders Act was replaced by the Youth Criminal Justice Act on April 1, 2003.

Under the new law, young persons found guilty of murder and other serious offences may be subject to adult sentences, but only after a trial, and only after a judge decides in a special hearing that an adult sentence should be imposed.

The maximum “youth sentence” for second-degree murder under the YCJA is a combination of custody and community supervision equal to seven years.