'Punishment is far exceeded already': Sask. father takes the stand as part of sentencing hearing in own defence

Michael Gordon Jackson took the stand under oath Monday in a turn of events at court which turned sentencing submissions into a sentencing hearing.

Jackson, 55, was found guilty by a jury in April following two weeks of proceedings for contravention of a custody order for withholding his then 7-year-old daughter from her mother in late 2021 to early 2022 to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

He is representing himself in the proceedings.

Justice Heather MacMillian-Brown allowed Jackson extra time to build his defense submissions after he claimed in court on August 9 he did not receive neither the Crown’s nor his Amicus’ submission briefs until arriving at court that morning.

Jackson was to submit his sentencing argument Monday.

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He began his submissions by describing how court orders prevented him from speaking to or seeing his daughter for over two and a half years has been punishment enough.

“The court has forced the separation of myself and [my daughter],” Jackson said. “I find this appalling they’re keeping us apart.

“The punishment is far exceeded already,” he told reporters after Monday’s proceedings.

Jackson has been on bail with several conditions in place since February 2023.

“I haven’t had a single problem on my bill,” he said.

Defense Submissions

During his submissions, Jackson described the conditions he was under while on remand for 541 days at Regina Provincial Correctional Centre.

“They put me with the worst of the worst and in the worst place,” he said.

Jackson claimed his food was often meddled with by other inmates and his cell was trashed by guards during searches.

“I was literally singled out,” he said. “And went through excessive means of physiological torture.”

Shortly after making the claim, Justice MacMillian-Brown cut Jackson off.

“There’s a big difference between objective and subjective here,” she said.

“My reason for saying this is showing the punishment I’ve already been through,” Jackson responded.

The Crown also objected to Jackson’s submissions.

“[Jackson] has gone far beyond alleging poor conditions,” said prosecutor Zoe Kim Zeggelaar. “He is alleging criminal acts.”

“The Crown cannot allow him to sit on the stand and give that evidence under oath without considering a response,” she added.

Under Oath

Jackson, his Amicus Currai and Kim Zeggelaar then took a recess to discuss in private the possible outcomes should proceedings continue.

It would mean Jackson would take the stand under oath to give the evidence as part of the submission and be cross examined.

Jackson reiterated his claims under oath.

“My food was always screwed with,” he said. “I lost over 60 pounds because I was not eating.”

Jackson said during searches, guards would remove pages with scriptures he had placed on the walls of his cells and discharge shampoo and tooth paste all over his table.

“I wrote complaints but they were ignored,” he said. “I was locked down and in distress. I could never trust my food was safe.”

Kim Zeggelaar did cross examine Jackson under oath but did not complete questioning Monday.

“Some things need to be followed up, investigated even,” she told the Justice.

Jusice MacMillian-Brown also noted Jackson’s testimony remains untested because cross examination could not be completed.

“It would be up to me to decide whether to accept [the testimony] or not when factoring them into the sentence,” she added.

The Justice said Monday’s proceedings were a surprise.

“I want to take very tight control over this process,” Justice MacMillian-Brown said. “This has almost taken on something I might see in a long-term or dangerous offender hearing.”

“I want to make sure we keep very close in mind what a sentencing hearing is and what the purpose of this testimony is,” she added.

Cross examination will completed October 21 – the day Jackson was originally scheduled to be sentenced.

A new date for the final sentencing decision will be determined later.