A Superior Court judge will not deliver his sentence for two former Hamilton paramedics convicted in the death of Yosif Al-Hasnawi until the new year.
Steven Snively and Christopher Marchant were found guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life to Al-Hasnawi when they responded to the scene of a shooting near the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre in central Hamilton on Dec. 2nd, 2017.
The 19-year-old was shot while coming to the aid of an older man who was being accosted by two younger men, one of whom was found not guilty of second-degree murder in 2019, although the Crown is appealing that verdict.
In June, Justice Harrison Arrell delivered his guilty verdict for Snively and Marchant, who were tried by judge alone in a trial that spanned several weeks in late 2020 and early 2021.
Arrell found that the paramedics showed a “departure” from care standards and failed to follow their training, delaying in taking him to the hospital, and not taking him to the local trauma centre that would have had a better chance of saving his life.
On Tuesday — the second day of a two-day sentencing hearing for the pair — the court set a sentencing date of Jan. 18, 2022.
A day earlier, the court heard that the Crown is seeking a prison sentence of two and a half years for both Snively and Marchant.
Defence attorneys Michael DelGobbo and Jeff Manishen are asking for a conditional sentence of six to nine months for Snively and Marchant, plus a period of probation and 100 hours of community service.
Crown attorney Linda Shin argued on Monday that the paramedics “robbed Yosif of his only chance of survival and caused his death” by not following their training, suggesting that Justice Arrell should consider manslaughter as an aggravating factor in his sentence.
Snively and Marchant were not charged with manslaughter and that wasn’t a factor considered during the multi-week trial, but the Criminal Code does allow for uncharged offences to be considered in specific circumstances.
Manishen argued against that suggestion on Tuesday, saying it would be “problematic” and “fundamentally unfair” to consider manslaughter in the sentencing if it wasn’t a component in the trial and the conviction.
He added that Marchant and Snively honestly believed Al-Hasnawi’s injury was caused by a BB gun and was not as serious as it turned out to be, and that the “chaotic, dark scene” may have impeded their judgment.
Both Manishen and DelGobbo also argued that what happened the night Al-Hasnawi died was an anomaly in their otherwise respectable careers as paramedics and that their actions shouldn’t result in them being sentenced to prison.
The defence said that both paramedics have suffered significant financial costs and are dealing with the repercussions of the media coverage from the trial, which will impact their employment opportunities going forward.
Comments