Third drunk driving conviction: Wayway chief spared jail time to attend to band's H1N1 needs :
The chief of a Manitoba First Nation has avoided a jail sentence for his third drunk driving conviction because of his community's battle with the H1N1 flu virus.
Murray Clearsky, 53, was given a month-long conditional sentence this week, which allows him to remain free in the community of Waywayseecappo, located about 300 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. Crown and defence lawyers cited "special circumstances" in not seeking custody for Clearsky.
"" said Crown attorney Shaun Sass. "Given these special circumstances, it's not contrary to the public interest to let him serve his sentence in the community."
The Crown had originally planned to seek between 14 and 30 days behind bars. Defence lawyer Jay Prober told court Clearsky has a vital public role to serve, which would be severely impacted if he were locked up at this critical time.
Clearsky was charged in December 2007 after his erratic driving caught the eye of RCMP officers doing a highway checkstop in western Manitoba. Clearsky nearly crashed into a vehicle and almost drove into the ditch while fishtailing down the highway, court was told.
Police immediately recognized him and caught a strong smell of alcohol from inside the car. Clearsky's speech was slurred and his face flushed. He was verbally combative with police and had to be restrained and lodged in the holding cells for several hours until he could sober up.
Blood-alcohol tests revealed he was double the legal limit at the time of his arrest.
"He realizes he made a mistake. He was lucky there were no accidents or injuries," said Prober.
Clearsky is the father of three young children, has a Grade 8 education and has been chief at Waywayseecappo since 1986, his lawyer said.
He was convicted in 1983 of refusing a breath sample and given a fine. Clearsky was convicted of the same charge in July 2004 and given a $1,380 fine and year-long driving prohibition. He also has a previous conviction for possession of a dangerous weapon from 1987.
"I know I should have learned from the past. I apologize for what happened," Clearsky told court during his sentencing hearing. "I know it happened quite a while back. I've done a lot of thinking since."
He has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on the reserve since his arrest.
"I try to do the best I can on behalf of my people. They have a lot of trust in me," he said. "Nobody's perfect. But still, this shouldn't have happened."
Provincial court Judge Lee Ann Martin said Clearsky had failed his community.
"With your role as a chief of the band, the words that come to mind are 'Shame on you,'" said Martin. "You're in a position where people look up to you. People expect you to do better. When you're out in public you need to be stronger. You are the one who needs to be setting the example."
Clearsky must be in his home under a curfew at all times, expect when he needs to attend to reserve business. He must also abstain from alcohol and is banned from driving for the next year.
???
Clearsky said he had been at a Christmas party in a neighbouring community and was "stranded" when his driver left early.
Oh, so it's not HIS fault, it's his driver's fault... what a load of ****.
And why is his presence necessary to attend to his band's H1N1 needs? Is he the only person there that's trained on how to administer the vaccine? Whatever the reason he's needed there during the H1N1 threat, why not defer sentencing until that crisis is over then sentence him to custody? Just another example of how the legal system isn't "fair & unbiased".
Using the flawed logic displayed in this ruling, I guess the next time the sole breadwinner of a family commits a crime & is convicted, he (or she) can avoid jail time because
We've crafted a sentence that will allow him to attend to the band and their needs during this H1N1 epidemic
Just substitue the word family for the word band and problem solved.
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