A Winnipeg court will admit 96 victim impact statements at the sentencing of the man who pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of 17-year-old Cooper Nemeth, despite concern the large number will have a disproportionate impact on the outcome of the proceedings.
Nicholas Bell-Wright’s sentencing hearing was delayed last Monday due to the volume of statements from friends and family received by the Crown. His defence lawyers have chosen not to object to the inclusion of all 96, though not all accounts will be read in court.
The popular high school hockey player’s murder came as a shock to the community. An estimated 1,000 people attended an Indigenous smudging ceremony in February 2016 where teammates hung his #7 jersey above the ice at a local arena.
The Crown said it was caught off guard by the number of statements it received a week before Bell-Wright’s sentencing was set to begin.
“It took us by surprise,” Crown attorney Keith Eyrikson told the court. “I understand they were brought by a family member to our office.”
The court previously heard that the large number of statements could be seen by some as having an excessive effect on Bell-Wright’s sentence. Justice Glenn Joyal told the court that the handling of the impact statements must be fair to the accused as well as the victim’s family.
“There has to be practical, predictable, and clear guidelines,” Joyal told the court. “In this case, I don’t want to prolong this dispute any longer.”
The Crown has told Joyal that 16 victim impact statements will be read by family and friends when the sentencing hearing resumes on Wednesday. It is estimated that will take about 1.5 hours.
Joyal said a “practice directive” would be forthcoming on how to handle a large number of victim impact statements in future court proceedings. He denied that any precedent has been set here.
“This case ought to be seen as a precedent for nothing,” Joyal told the court.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg
