Court Briefs
Dene Nation told to pay $91,000 in court case
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, December 16, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The NWT Supreme Court has ordered the Dene Nation to hand over $91,084.41 after failing to pay rent to its landlord nearly a year ago.
The organization was given until Dec. 15 to pay up or file a response, according to a court document dated Dec. 2.
It wasn't known at press time whether Dene Nation has paid the bill.
A statement of claim filed in October shows the Dene Nation had been leasing office space from MDC Holdings Ltd. at 5125-50 St. since Sept. 1, 2006. Rent rang in at $6,600 a month, plus $3,800 a month for operating and maintenance costs.
MDC Holdings Ltd. claims the indigenous organization breached its lease agreement in December 2015 and that as of Oct. 6, 2016 it owed rent arrears of $75,545.52.
Although Dene Nation told MDC Holdings it would vacate its office space by Nov. 15 it has failed to repay the money it owes, the statement says.
Man asks forgiveness before sentencing in knife attack
A man found guilty of stabbing another man 14 times in a brawl outside Coyote's Bar & Grill two years ago pleaded for forgiveness in court Tuesday after lawyers in the case submitted sentencing recommendations to a NWT Supreme Court judge.
"Nothing good comes from violence," said Nathan Hodges, 27, of Aldergrove, B.C. while reading aloud from a statement he prepared.
He said he prays the victim, former Yellowknife resident Chase Van Metre, will one day forgive him, although he understands if he can't.
Hodges was charged with aggravated assault for the Aug. 9, 2014 incident outside the former Range Lake Road restaurant. A jury found Hodges guilty of the crime Aug. 19.
Although Hodges has two previous drug convictions, defense lawyer Jay Bran asked the judge to consider his client a first-time offender as his drug charges postdate the aggravated assault.
Bran proposed a sentence of 12 to 15 months where Hodges could benefit from support programs. Alternatively, he suggested he be sentenced to no jail at all with a year of probation involving counselling.
Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre argued 12 to 15 months in jail is too lenient. He asked Hodges to submit to a DNA order and receive three years of jail time, minus credit for time spent in pre-trial custody.
"This isn't just one stab ... It's excessive. It's over the top," Lecorre said.
Supreme Court judge Louise Charbonneau adjourned the sentencing decision until Dec. 20.
Woman with record of violence sentenced for assaults
A 28-year-old Inuit woman with 10 previous convictions for violent offences has been sentenced to 11 months in jail after assaulting two people again this year.
Jessica Klengenberg was sentenced Monday in territorial court by Judge Robert Gorin for punching a woman square in the face in Yellowknife on July 29 and giving her a bloody nose - an act Gorin said appeared to amuse Klengenberg.
On Oct. 7, she attempted to stab a man several times in the stomach. She was ultimately unsuccessful.
Klengenberg has been involved in violence for several years and was convicted of an assault causing bodily harm in 2009, Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre told the court.
She has been in custody since Oct. 7 for her most recent offence, he said.
Despite Klengenberg's previous jail time, "she doesn't seem to be getting the message," Gorin said.
During the court appearance, she passed a hand-written note to Gorin expressing regret for her actions and her desire to change. She told the judge she had suffered abuse throughout her life.
A pre-sentence report stated the woman has struggled with substance abuse but has refused treatment in the past.
Gorin told the court he needed to consider the abuse and Klengenberg's relatively early guilty plea on Oct. 25 in determining a sentence.
He handed her eight months for the October assault with a weapon and another three months for the July assault. She will receive 97 days credit off her sentence for time already spent in custody before her sentencing.
Klengenberg was also given a five-year firearms ban, ordered to pay a $100 victim surcharge for each offence, and will be given an 18-month probation order following her release from jail, Gorin said.
