NORTH BATTLEFORD - A decision on Keenan Mirasty’s manslaughter sentence did not come down Friday after all.
Instead, the case now is headed to a full sentencing hearing in the new year. A date of Feb. 10, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. has been set for the sentencing hearing by Judge Dan O’Hanlon. The hearing is set to run for the full day. That will be in courtroom 2 in North Battleford Provincial Court.
The indication from Crown prosecutor Scott Bartlett was that they planned to call seven civilian witnesses and up to three police witnesses for the sentencing hearing.
Prior to that, a case management hearing is set for Dec. 3 at 9:30 a.m. in courtroom 2. It is expected counsel will have discussions beforehand to try to find a resolution.
The Dec. 3 court date will be on the record. Judge O’Hanlon indicated Friday that if a full sentencing hearing is not required, he will set a date for sentencing at that time.
This court appearance was handled by conference call, with Crown prosecutor Bartlett, defence counsel Tim Nolin (appearing for Michael Nolin), and the accused Mirasty on the phone line while Judge O’Hanlon appeared in person in court.
It is the latest turn in what has turned into a protracted sentencing for Mirasty, who pled guilty last October to manslaughter in connection to the March 2020 death of Sequin Mooswa in North Battleford.
Sentencing of Mirasty was then delayed for months due to COVID-19 restrictions and delays in the provincial court system.
On Aug. 11 the sentencing of Mirasty finally went ahead in provincial court. Crown and defence had submitted what was supposed to be an agreed statement of facts.
But a dispute erupted over certain facts presented by the Crown about what had transpired during the early morning hours of March 8, 2020 when Mooswa was assaulted by Mirasty.
The disagreement focused on whether a second assault of Mooswa by Mirasty took place in the bedroom area of their house, and whether this could be considered an aggravating factor that could impact the length of sentence.
Defence lawyer Michael Nolin had argued this point was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. He also noted his client Mirasty had denied that a further assault had ever taken place.
In his remarks on Friday morning, Judge O’Hanlon said of the submissions that it “became obvious the facts were not agreed to” and that the case must be set for a sentencing hearing.
