A JOINT submission by the prosecution and defence was not accepted by the judge in an assault case, contrary to what usually happens.
Sunni Beynon was sentenced to six months in jail with one year of probation to follow after she pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon in a stabbing Jan. 1 this year.
After time served of 70 days is taken into account, Beynon will spend 110 days in jail.
Prosecutor Bill Funnell and defence lawyer Timothy Klaassen put a joint submission before provincial court judge Calvin Struyk, asking for a four-month sentence for Beynon but, in an uncommon move, Struyk didn’t accept it as Beynon had a conviction on her record for a similar offence, said Funnell. The law says that a judge shouldn’t turn down a joint submission unless it’s outside the range of sentence that the judge would impose, but the judge still may reject it.
On Jan. 1, 2011, Beynon and another woman had a confrontation in their residence, said Funnell.
A man, who also was living there, tried to intervene and was stabbed once in the stomach with a steak knife, said Funnell.
Beynon will also have to provide a DNA sample and is prohibited from possessing firearms for two years. Even though firearms weren’t involved in this case, a firearms prohibition can be included in a sentence any time violence is used against a person, said Funnell.
Another charge of assault with a weapon and two breach of probation charges were stayed.