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He once thought dangerous offender Dillon Richard Runions should be locked up indefinitely.
But on Friday Justice David Labrenz agreed with Crown and defence lawyers that Runions no long poses the same future risk as he did when the Court of King’s Bench judge originally sentenced him to an indeterminate term in January, 2021.
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“I wouldn’t be prepared to release you in the community if I had any thought that there would be a danger to the community,” Labrenz in accepting a joint recommendation for a fixed sentence followed by 10 years of community supervision.
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Crown prosecutors Janice Walsh and Nicole Rozier, along with defence counsel Yoav Niv and Joshua l’Abbe proposed a 13-year sentence beginning on the date of Runions’ Aug. 5, 2017 arrest over a series of violent crimes.
The warrant expiry of that term will be on Aug. 5, 2030 and once Runions is released he will be under a long-term supervision order for 10 years.
Although he could be eligible for early parole, it’s expected Runions will remain behind bars until his sentence concludes so he can complete programs necessary for his reintegration into society.
Labrenz earlier declared Runions a dangerous offender after the Calgary man pleaded guilty to a string of violent crimes during a month-long spree in July, 2017, included an aggravated assault with a machete that severed his victim’s jugular vein.
Niv, who successfully argued before the Alberta Court of Appeal that Labrenz’s order of an indeterminate sentence be reconsidered, said his client now has insight into his offending behaviour and the traumatic history which led to his violent, gang-related lifestyle.
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“Over the years (since his incarceration) Mr. Runions has made pro-social changes to his life,” the lawyer said.
The offender has been able to reconnect with family members, including a 15-year-old son, Niv said.
“He wants his son to have a better life,” he said.
“Mr. Runions wants to be better for the people that he loves … while at the same time distancing himself from the gang life.”
Niv said his client has even publicly, within the correctional system, made it clear he no longer wants to associate with such individuals.
“He has owned his disassociation with gangs,” he said.
Labrenz said that when he first sentence Runions to an indeterminate term in January, 2021, he “was not at that time in a position to say that Mr. Runions would not go back to the lifestyle that he’s always known.”
But he said Runions has turned the corner on a tragic life that was “related to a history of disadvantage due to colonial impact.”
The Alberta Court of Appeal had sent the Runions case back to Labrenz ruling he hadn’t sufficiently articulated his reasons for finding the offender could not be controlled in the community.
X: @KMartinCourts
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