REGINA – A Saskatchewan court has rejected a man’s appeal to lower his sentence for driving drunk and running over and killing a conservation officer.
Blaine Taypotat was given 9 1/2 years for killing 23-year-old Justin Knackstedt near Saskatoon in May 2013.
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He wanted the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal to reduce his sentence to eight years, arguing the trial judge misapplied a sentencing factor requiring courts to take into account the upbringing of an indigenous offender.
His lawyer, Josephine de Whytell, said Taypotat was brought up in an environment “fraught with alcohol-induced violence” and that alcohol became his coping mechanism.
De Whytell said Taypotat, who is 38, was abused at a residential school where he spent eight years and that the collision happened shortly after he had received compensation.
The Appeal Court dismissed the case Thursday, ruling that the trial judge made no errors.
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