ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Convicted killer Chesley Lucas has lost an appeal of his jail sentence.
The judge who sentenced Lucas three years ago in connection with the death of Steven Miller had applied the appropriate legal principles when he rejected a joint submission from the Crown and defence for a lesser sentence, the province’s court of appeal ruled Wednesday.
Lucas had argued the judge had put too much emphasis on public interest in the case and not enough on the sacrifices Lucas had made in order to strike a deal with the Crown for a 7 ½-year sentence.
Lucas and Calvin Kenny were sentenced together in January 2018 to 12 ½ years after they had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, forcible confinement and robbery in connection with the death of Steven Miller in Conception Bay South two years earlier.
Judges are obligated to accept joint submissions on sentencing unless they can prove it would be contrary to the public interest or would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. They must also consider the quid pro quo — the give and take — involved when the two parties come to a joint decision.
The Supreme Court of Canada has acknowledged plea bargains and joint submissions as important in maintaining the criminal justice system, lowering the burden on courts and freeing up resources.
On appeal, Lucas’ lawyer argued the original judge had dismissed the quid pro quo in and had rejected the joint submission without applying the proper test. Lucas had given up his right to go to trial and agreed to the sentencing suggestion even though the case against him, in particular, was weak and involved no physical evidence, he submitted, arguing that a reasonable member of the public who had all the details of the circumstances of the case and the quid pro quo would not think the proposed sentence was too lenient.
In their decision, the appellate judges – Justices Gale Welsh, Lois Hoegg and William Goodridge ¬— agreed with prosecutor Dana Sullivan’s argument that the original judge had correctly applied the law when he rejected the joint submission.
“The trial judge gave clear and cogent reasons for rejecting the joint submission,” Welsh wrote. “He applied the (relevant legal analysis) and concluded that the sentence was so ‘markedly out of line with the expectations of reasonable persons aware of the circumstances of the case that they would view it as a breakdown in the proper functioning of the criminal justice system’ and that the sentence ‘would cause an informed and reasonable public to lose confidence in the institution of the courts.’ In addition, the judge followed the appropriate procedure, ultimately providing Mr. Lucas with the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea.
“Having applied the appropriate legal principles, the trial judge did not err in rejecting the joint sentencing submission.”
Two other men pleaded guilty in connection with Miller’s killing: Kyle Morgan, who was sentenced to a year in jail for being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter, and Paul Connolly, who has yet to be sentenced on charges of manslaughter, robbery, forcible confinement and court order breaches. His lawyers have been waiting for the result of Lucas’ appeal before making their sentencing submissions.
Kenny had also appealed his sentence, but died in prison in 2019.
Miller had been assaulted and kidnapped by three masked men with guns who forced their way into his Seal Cove home and then set it alight. His body was found four hours later in a driveway in a residential area of Kelligrews. He had been stabbed multiple times.
Tara Bradbury reports on justice and the courts in St. John's
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