Philip Pynn deserves 18 years in prison: Crown
Defence requests 6-8 year jail-term
The Crown prosecutors overseeing a manslaughter case in St. John's say Philip Pynn is a violent offender who deserves to spend 18 years behind bars. However, the 28-year-old's lawyer says the Crown's suggested sentence is outrageously out of touch with how long Pynn should actually serve.
The clash over how long Pynn should spend in prison played out in Newfoundland Supreme Court in St. John's on Wednesday.
In November, Pynn was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of his best friend Nick Winsor.
It was one of the last steps in a lengthy and convoluted second-degree murder trial that ended with co-accused Lyndon Butler walking away a free man and Pynn convicted of a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Pynn and 20-year-old Winsor brought a sawed off shotgun to a home on Portugal Cove Road on July 9, 2011. Winsor was killed by a single shot to the neck.
In a pre-sentence report, Pynn said he went to Tom "Billy" Power's house that night to intimidate him.
His lawyer Mark Gruchy, while reading from the report, said that Pynn felt guilty over Winsor's death.
Gruchy said with the possibility of a murder conviction, Pynn didn't care if he lived or died while incarcerated at Her Majesty's Penitentiary.
Gruchy is asking that Pynn serve a sentence of six to eight years.
While Gruchy said his client had a hard life, he said Pynn blames no one but himself for Winsor's death.
Do the math
In an unusual move, Crown David Bright asked that Pynn only be given credit for half of his three-and-a-half-years in custody at HMP, due to the fact he's been reprimanded several times while in custody.
Capt. Frank Lee with adult correction, the first of two witnesses called by the Crown, said while he never had any issues with Pynn at the province's largest prison, pages of documents show Pynn has been reprimanded several times while in custody.
He made the wrong decision and now he's going to pay for that decision because it caused the death of Nicholas Winsor.- Crown attorney David Bright
An internal tribunal found Pynn had tested positive for cocaine while inside HMP and was affiliated with St. John's Mob, a prison gang involving about 30 inmates.
Pynn has been found guilty of 18 internal charges, including vandalism, fighting and failing drug tests.
Some of the offences were minor in nature, including one incident where Pynn covered up the light in his cell in the special handling unit.
Defence lawyer Mark Gruchy pointed out that lights inside the unit are constantly on, and Pynn was just trying to cover the light to sleep.
"It's not an easy place to be," Gruchy told the court about the unit Pynn has living in ever since the HMP chapel riot in February 2014, in which a known rival of Pynn's — Kenny Green — was violently attacked.
Pynn has not yet gone to trial in relation to charges stemming from the incident.
A failed urinalysis in August 2014 was the last time Pynn was reprimanded for poor jailhouse behaviour.
HMP programs
During his testimony, Capt. Lee said Pynn did participate in activities at HMP, and after Christmas he began taking part in an in-house addictions program.
A doctor inside the St. John's jail said Pynn is "willing and interested in improving his future."
One of Pynn's program coordinators showed up at court for Wednesday's sentencing hearing, and was pointed out to the judge by Gruchy.
'Wrong decisions'
Pynn's 34-page criminal record is extensive, with offences involving shotguns, brass knuckles, a stun gun and pepper spray.
However, Gruchy pointed out that the majority of Pynn's brushes with the law were for breaches and other minor offences.
"He made the wrong decision and now he's going to pay for that decision because it caused the death of Nicholas Winsor," Bright said.
He insisted Winsor's death was closer to murder than accidental death because a loaded, sawed-off shotgun was brought to Billy Power's home, where Winsor was fatally shot.
Bright said Pynn could have explained to police what had happened that July night three years ago, but chose not to.
Winsor's mother, who was sitting in the back of the courtroom gallery during Wednesday's proceedings, started to sob when Bright explained that Pynn left Winsor dead in Power's garage.
"He could have stood up as a man and gave an explanation as to what happened," said Bright.
"We have to denounce misconduct. We have to protect society as a whole from this conduct."
Meanwhile, Gruchy said he's not asking for a lenient sentence, but rather a jail-term that reflects the crime.
Gruchy pointed to several pieces of case law in which he said the crimes were far more severe and deliberate than the crime committed by Pynn, but the convicted persons received sentences less than 18 years.
"I can't find anything in the country like Philip Pynn's case," Gruchy said.
Gruchy cites two local cases in which men were sentenced for manslaughter.
Kenny Green was sentenced to six years for the beating death of Joey Whalen; Jody Druken was handed 12 years for the shooting death of his brother Derek.
In Canada, manslaughter carries a minimum sentence of four years when a firearm is involved. There is no maximum for the offence.
Justice James Adams hopes to give his decision on Friday afternoon.
You can see updates from Supreme Court Wednesday in our live blog.