Sentencing has been adjourned for an Aboriginal man who killed a Saskatchewan conservation officer in a vehicle-pedestrian collision.
Blaine Thomas Taypotat was scheduled to be sentenced this morning after pleading guilty to manslaughter and impaired driving causing death last month.
But the case has now been adjourned until April to allow time for the drafting of a Gladue report on what would be an appropriate sentence for Taypotat.
The Gladue Principle — which originated from a Supreme Court ruling in 1999 — takes into account the challenges faced by Aboriginal offenders and looks at sentencing alternatives with a greater chance of success.
Defence lawyer Josephine de Whytell says the private report has the potential of influencing the court “to see that there are larger contextual issues that played a part in bringing Mr. Taypotat before the court in the first place”.
Both the Crown and defence will have until March 19 to research similar cases and exchange their findings.
The victim, Justin Knackstedt, was killed while helping to direct traffic at an accident scene near Saskatoon in May 2013.