Woman who threatened to kill cousin spared extra time in jail

A woman was spared extra jail time to continue her rehabilitative efforts in Brandon after she threatened to kill her cousin with a knife this summer while experiencing a mental health crisis.

Jade Brown, 25, was sentenced to 67 days of enhanced credit for time served in custody for uttering threats and a 30-day concurrent sentence for failing to abide by a strict curfew.

Brown pleaded guilty to both charges in Brandon provincial court on Thursday during her sentencing hearing.

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta told Brown it was a “tough decision” ordering her not to return behind bars and instead focus on growing her supports in the community “because you actually haven’t served enough time in jail for what you did.”

“On the other hand, I don’t see a lot of value in … sending you back to jail for like 20 days, which isn’t going to be enough time to finish any programming,” she said.

Around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 15, Brown’s cousin told the Brandon Police Service that the accused had threatened her with a kitchen knife.

The cousin said she was concerned about Brown’s well-being and went to her home before midnight to check on her because she seemed “out of it,” Crown attorney Reid Girard said.

When she got to the home, she noticed Brown was very unsteady on her feet and almost fell down the stairs. The two started arguing and then the accused grabbed an approximately eight-inch-long knife from a knife block, he said.

The victim said Brown told her she was going to kill her and then walked toward her with the weapon, Girard said.

Brown’s grandfather, who was also in the home, intervened, prompting the victim to run and hide in a bathroom until she was picked up.

Police arrived at the home around 3 a.m. to arrest Brown, who was on a condition to abide by a 24-7 curfew at the time, but she wasn’t there.

Police issued a warrant and arrested her on Aug. 27 and she remained in custody until Oct. 8.

“We know how much of a risk that knives can pose to someone’s safety, and I would suggest while the court can take notice that this would have been certainly a scary experience for the victim,” Girard said.

The Crown suggested Brown be sentenced to 90 days for uttering threats and serve 30 days for the curfew breach concurrently, followed by a one-year unsupervised probation order. This recommendation would have seen her spend another 23 days in jail — a position Girard said he didn’t make lightly despite Hewitt-Michta questioning why his proposal was on the lower range.

Defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens said Brown’s cousin had brought over alcohol that night and wasn’t welcome in the home. She said the accused apologized immediately after the incident, saying she was happy that her grandfather was able to de-escalate the situation.

Janssens submitted two letters to the court on behalf of a community service worker and social worker, which detailed how Brown was taking positive steps to address her FASD diagnosis and the instability and trauma she has experienced.

“Her workers feel that … the time she spent in custody have sort of inhibited her ability to address those underlying factors and haven’t been effective to ensure she’s stable on a long-term basis and to ensure she does not reoffend,” she said.

“They feel community interventions are better positioned to address these root causes and make sure Miss Brown never comes back before the court again.”

Janssens said Brown has dealt with mental health concerns in the past year and was experiencing a mental health crisis that night.

Hewitt-Michta said she didn’t want to diminish the fact that brandishing a weapon and not abiding by her curfew were “totally unacceptable.”

She told Brown that if her decision to let Brown remain in the community was a mistake, she promised to fix it by giving her a longer jail sentence if she gets in trouble again.

Brown was ordered to serve one year of unsupervised probation with conditions that include not contacting the victim, converting anything into a weapon or possessing knives, with the exception of consuming food or through any workplace duties.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com