wrote in the ruling released this week<\/a>. <\/p>\n\u201cThe 5 ng\/mL THC limit is constitutional. The principles of fundamental justice at issue here, arbitrariness and overbreadth, must be applied with restraint to avoid transforming judicial review into second-guessing legislative policy choices.\u201d <\/p>\n
The judge also ruled that the sentence was not excessive, noting the \u201cexceptional combination of aggravating factors\u201d in the case.<\/p>\n
On June 18, 2020, 36-year-old Karolina Ciasullo and her three daughters, six-year-old Klara, three-year-old Lilianna, and one-year-old Mila, were driving near Torbram Road and Countryside Drive when they were struck by Robertson. The mother and her three children were all killed in the crash. <\/p>\n
Tulloch noted that just two days earlier, Robertson drove dangerously, appearing to pass out while driving, rolling through a stop sign with his head swung back, before smashing into barriers on a busy sidewalk. <\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of taking responsibility, he reversed and sped away. When a police cruiser attempted to apprehend him, he initiated a high-speed chase,\u201d the judge wrote, noting that the pursuit had to be called off out of a concern for public safety. <\/p>\n
On the day of the catastrophic collision, Tulloch said, Robertson again \u201cinitiated a high-speed police chase to evade apprehension.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe drove at extreme speed through a residential area, ignored a stop sign, drove through a red light, and used the wrong lane. Although his impairment was not proved, the evidence established that he consumed marijuana several hours before driving and was behind the wheel with eight times the legal limit of THC in his blood,\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother drug, flubromazolan, was also in his blood, and cannabis and pills, including a fentanyl pill, were within arm\u2019s reach of his driver\u2019s seat. He was neither licensed nor insured nor driving a registered vehicle.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tulloch noted that the trial judge did consider mitigating factors when determining the appropriate sentence for Robertson, including his youth, lack of prior criminal record, and difficult upbringing marked by \u201cneglect, trauma, abuse, and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Highly irresponsible and dangerous conduct\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 17-year sentence was not the product of error in principle and is not demonstrably unfit. The trial judge carefully weighed the exceptionally aggravating features of this case: the loss of four lives, the appellant\u2019s profound disregard for public safety, and the pattern of dangerous driving reflected in two separate high-risk police pursuits,\u201d Tulloch wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the judge also considered the appellant\u2019s mitigating circumstances, she reasonably concluded that these factors did not outweigh the gravity of the offences. The sentence was justified and consistent with the governing principles of sentencing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robertson\u2019s lawyers suggested that the sentence was \u201cdisproportionate\u201d compared to the 10-year sentence imposed in the Marco Muzzo case, which also involved four fatalities, including three children.<\/p>\n
Tulloch wrote that the comparison does not \u201cestablish demonstrable unfitness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe harm caused by the appellant\u2019s conduct was devastating. Karolina Ciasullo and her three young daughters were killed, leaving Michael Ciasullo without his entire immediate family. The trauma he continues to endure is profound,\u201d Tulloch wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese catastrophic consequences flowed from highly irresponsible and dangerous conduct. The appellant drove at extreme speeds in an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, without a licence, while suspended, and after consuming intoxicants.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge noted a driving record of 15 convictions of a short period of time, demonstrating a \u201cpersistent and escalating disregard for the law and for public safety.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cEven more troubling, he continued this behaviour after what should have been a clear warning: a separate incident two days earlier in which he crashed into a sidewalk barrier while in a stupor,\u201d Tulloch said. <\/p>\n
With files from The Canadian Press <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Ontario court has dismissed appeals filed by the man convicted in the deadly Brampton, Ont., crash that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[712,51759,49,48],"class_list":["post-623504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brampton","tag-apple-news","tag-brampton","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}