Saskatchewan’s highest court has upheld the sentence of a man who struck and killed a conservation officer on a highway near Saskatoon.
Blaine Taypotat was given 9 1/2 years after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and impaired driving causing the death of Justin Knackstedt.
At an appeal hearing Thursday in Regina, a lawyer for Taypotat argued the sentence is “demonstrably unfit.” The lawyer also said the trial judge misapplied the Gladue factor, a sentencing principle that requires courts to take into account an indigenous offender's background.
However, a panel of three judges dismissed the appeal, saying they found no error in the sentence.
Knackstedt, 23, was helping direct traffic at a road block after a crash south of Saskatoon in May 2013 when he was hit by Taypotat’s speeding vehicle, which was being pursued by police.
With files from The Canadian Press
