Calvin Wade Laughlin was sentenced to five years today for manslaughter.
Wade appeared in Court of Queen’s Bench on the morning of Tuesday, June 30 in Drumheller. He was sentenced on a charge of manslaughter, that a jury found him guilty of in April of this year. A further charge of aggravated assault was stayed. These were related to the death of Neil McMaster who died following an assault at Wade’s home in Nacmine in May of 2011.
Laughlin had represented himself at trial, but hired lawyer S. Low for sentencing. A pre-sentence report was prepared and five victim impact statements were presented to the court.
Prosecutor Ron Pedersen recommended a sentence in the range of five to six years, while defense felt a sentence of no more than three years was suitable.
In handing down sentence, Justice J.T. McCarthy talked about the levels of culpability of manslaughter, a charge he said that ranges from crimes that are near accidents to crimes that are near murder. He felt this was in the mid-range of culpability, describing Laughlin’s actions as not planned, but he should have appreciated the risk of serious bodily injury.
While the court heard that in the fight that evening, McMaster struck Laughlin first and ineffectively, Justice McCarthy said that Laughlin “retaliated with a physical assault that in my view, was brutal and excessive.”
Laughlin briefly addressed the court saying he has lost his one of his best friends and misses him.
The sentence was for five years, less 12 days for time spent in custody. He is also subject to a firearms prohibition and a mandatory DNA sample was taken.
