A driver who breached the terms of a community sentence he got for fleeing the scene of a Burnaby crash that killed a motorcyclist three years ago has been given another chance.
Marcel Genaille, 37, was handed a conditional sentence in June after pleading guilty to failing to stop at the scene of a June 19, 2021 crash on Canada Way that fatally injured Mark Peters, a 59-year-old husband and father of two from Surrey.
Three months later, however, Genaille was arrested after a police officer caught him violating the terms of his sentence by being in a car near a Surrey gas station more than four-and-a-half hours outside of his curfew on Sept. 27.
He was still under house arrest and wasn't supposed to be outside of his home except for work between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
He was also prohibited from being in the driver's seat of any vehicle unless he was properly licensed and was driving directly to or from work.
Genaille admitted he had breached his sentence by violating his house arrest and by being in a vehicle outside of the exceptions for work, and Crown prosecutor Mark Myhre argued his conditional sentence order should be cancelled and he should spend the remaining 15 months of his sentence in jail.
But Genaille's lawyer, Tony Lagemaat said Genaille should be put back on the conditional sentence order because he had made strides in his rehabilitation, including getting a job and housing, both of which would be in jeopardy if he was sent to jail.
Lagemaat said the court could add electronic monitoring to the sentence.
At a hearing Tuesday, however, he told the court that wouldn't work at Genaille's residence and he didn't have any other options.
B.C. provincial court Judge Andrea Brownstone said Genaille had breached his sentence in multiple way, including not providing his conditional sentence supervisor with accurate information, being outside of his home contrary a letter of permission that outlined exceptions to his house arrest, not driving directly to and from work, and driving an uninsured vehicle.
Brownstone said the breaches were "without reasonable excuse," but noted Genaille hadn't committed any more crimes.
She said she also needed to factor in Genaille's Indigenous background and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in jail.
"While he had a very careless attitude towards compliance with the CSO, despite it being explained to him by the court and his supervisor, his breaches did not consist of additional criminal activity and did not pose a direct threat to the public," Brownstone said.
She released Genaille to continue serving his sentence in the community, with 65 days of enhanced credit for 43 days he has spent in jail since his arrest on the house arrest breach.
After delivering her sentence, Brownstone addressed Genaille directly.
"I'm assuming that after spending about six weeks in custody, you've had an opportunity to fully consider and experience the effect of failing to strictly comply with each and every term of the conditional sentence order," she said. "The sentence is called a conditional one because serving it in the community is conditional on full and strict compliance with each and every term, and further breaches will likely lead to termination."
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