Provincial Crown prosecutors are in court this week seeking an adult sentence for a youth who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of an Inverness man in 2007.
Crown attorney Diane McGrath said prosecutors expect to present evidence until Wednesday seeking to have the youth — who can’t be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act — sentenced as an adult in the death of 70-year-old Ivan Rorison. The hearing is scheduled for five days this week in provincial court in Port Hawkesbury.
Two other youths and four adults are also still before the courts in Rorison’s death, which occurred in June 2007 after a break-and-enter and altercation in his home.
McGrath said it’s difficult to say when Judge Laurel Halfpenny-MacQuarrie will rule in the complex hearing.
“I would be shocked if she gives us a decision right away,” said McGrath, adding the application is technical and complex because it involves the Youth Criminal Justice Act and case law.
Once the judge rules on the application, the youth will still have to return to court for a sentencing hearing.
McGrath said it’s also unclear whether the youth — who was 17 at the time of the incident and is now 18 — can be named if the adult sentencing application is successful, because there is a 30-day appeal process.
