Woman given second chance with conditional discharge
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/09/2022 (1256 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A 23-year-old Brandon resident will be spending the next two years under supervised probation after she recently pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft, obstructing justice and failing to attend court.
Kyshia Prince-Olsen, who had been in custody since her arrest, appeared in a Brandon courtroom via video conference Monday.
Prince-Olsen first became known to local police on Sept. 1, 2020, when she was caught stealing mail in the city’s downtown area.
The Brandon courthouse. (File)
Once she was released from custody, Prince-Olsen missed her followup court dates on Oct. 8, 2020, and Sept. 16, 2021, before getting arrested for theft once again.
On Oct. 23, 2021, a Real Canadian Superstore employee reported that a woman had filled multiple bags with store merchandise before exiting the building without paying.
After being spotted by police a short distance away, Prince-Olsen fled on foot across a busy city street but was eventually apprehended.
Police recovered around $746 worth of store merchandise and returned it to Real Canadian Superstore staff.
Less than a week later, on Oct. 28, Prince-Olsen was arrested for theft again after swiping a donation can containing around $50 to $75 in coins from Little Caesars Pizza the previous day.
Defence lawyer Jonathan Richert told the court Monday that his client still maintains that she didn’t know the donation can was meant to fund Big Brothers Big Sisters, mistaking it for an employee tip jar instead.
“She described this as being a dare that her friends told her to do,” Richert said.
“I, of course, told her that she needs to find better friends, and she agreed with me.”
Following this incident, Prince-Olsen jumped back onto police radar on June 21, when she was wanted for failing to comply with a release order and was stopped by patrolling officers in the 300 block of First Street.
The woman then led police on a foot chase that concluded with her capture and arrest several blocks west.
While Prince-Olsen was scheduled to appear before a judge on Aug. 22, she skipped her court date for a third time, forcing Brandon Police Service to ask for the public’s assistance in locating her via a Crime Stoppers notice that was released last Friday.
On Monday, Crown attorney Yaso Mathu recommended that Prince-Olsen be given a conditional discharge, since an extended period of supervised probation will allow the woman to get ahold of the addiction issues that fuel a lot of her criminal activity.
“I think Ms. Prince-Olsen has gotten into the grips of methamphetamine [addiction], has let her life spiral, and I think she might be a transient individual,” Mathu said.
“You can see the basement-bottom level that this drug has led her to … stealing donation cans that are meant for charitable organizations and using the money to buy marijuana, which she herself admitted.”
Richert supported this approach to sentencing, adding that a prolonged stretch of probation will give his client the space she needs to properly treat the mental health issues that complicated her dealings with the court and the police.
“Ms. Prince-Olsen needs to get a handle on those things so this behaviour doesn’t keep repeating itself,” the defence attorney said. “This really is an opportunity for her to press the reset button and do things better going forward, and I’m very hopeful that … she’s going to be able to turn things around.”
Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta endorsed the conditional discharge, saying that Prince-Olsen must abide by various conditions for two years if she wishes to stay out of jail.
The conditions include completing 20 hours of community service, paying restitution to Big Brothers Big Sisters and attending treatment programs as directed by her probation officer.
Speaking to Prince-Olsen directly on Monday, Hewitt-Michta framed the conditional discharge as a fresh start for the 23-year-old.
“What’s being recommended here is pretty generous, in the sense that it allows you to work towards keeping your record clean,” the judge said. “If you’re able to get through this probation order and not breach it and stay out of trouble, then you can say that you don’t have a criminal record.”
» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson