B.C. man banished from First Nation argues jail sentence amounts to 'double jeopardy'
A Vancouver Island man who burned down a home on the Wei Wai Kum First Nation will be allowed to appeal his jail sentence on the principle of "double jeopardy" after arguing he had already been punished for the crime when the First Nation banished him from the reserve.
Eddy Walter Cliffe was sentenced to 21 months in jail and 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to arson on the reserve near Campbell River, B.C.
But before entering his guilty plea, the Wei Wai Kum First Nation issued a banishment order barring him from entering the nation's reserve lands for six months as punishment for the crime.
Earlier this month, Cliffe petitioned the B.C. Court of Appeal, asking the province's highest court to appoint a lawyer for him to overturn both his conviction and his sentence.
On Feb. 16, Justice John Hunter dismissed Cliffe's conviction appeal but granted his sentence appeal, appointing a lawyer to argue the case on his behalf.
Home doused with gasoline
At trial, the court heard how Cliffe and his mother set fire to the house he lived in on June 25, 2019.
Cliffe owned the house, with a mortgage secured by the First Nation. However, when he defaulted on the mortgage, and efforts to settle the debt were unsuccessful, the nation served Cliffe an eviction notice.
More negotiations to resolve the debt ensued but Cliffe did not pay his mortgage debt and the eviction proceeded.
Cliffe's mother sent an email to the nation expressing her frustration over the eviction, "which amounted to a veiled threat to burn the house down," the judge wrote in his decision.
At a meeting the next day, the First Nation told Cliffe and his mother the house would be sold.
"The day before the nation was set to take control of the house, the appellant called the chief and confirmed that the nation was going to follow through with that plan," the judge wrote. "Shortly after that call, the appellant purchased gasoline."
Cliffe phoned a friend, asking if he should let his mother be the one to burn down the home to take the blame for him. He also told the friend that she should not come to the house because it would be "going up" in the next 15 minutes, the judge wrote.
Cliffe and his mother met on the morning of the fire, discussed their plan and removed some belongings from the house before dousing it in gasoline.
The pair then recorded a video in which Cliffe claims to be trying to prevent his mother from lighting the house on fire. Later, Cliffe handed a burning Q-tip to his mother, who set the fire, the court heard.
Once the blaze was set, Cliffe warned his neighbour about the fire and then called the Wei Wai Kum First Nation chief to say he tried unsuccessfully to stop his mother from starting the fire.
Double jeopardy argument
The two were subsequently arrested and charged with arson, to which they pleaded guilty.
"The unusual feature of the case that Mr. Cliffe wishes to raise is that some time in July 2019, the nation issued an order against Mr. Cliffe banishing him from the reserve for six months," the judge wrote.
"Mr. Cliffe argues that his conviction for arson after the banishment order constitutes double jeopardy."
While the judge granted the appointment of a lawyer to argue the appeal, he expressed "grave doubts" about the merits of the double jeopardy defence in the case, saying Cliffe would have to prove that the Wei Wai Kum banishment was imposed under criminal law or that it provided "true penal consequences."
"Mr. Cliffe argues that both the banishment and the arson charge arose from the same conduct, and accordingly once he was punished by way of banishment, he cannot be punished again through the criminal law," the judge wrote.
"The consequence of this argument is that a serious crime could not be prosecuted against an Indigenous offender if, before charges could be brought, the offender received a banishment order authorized by an internal rule of the nation."
The appellate court judge ruled that although the lower court judge was aware of the banishment order, she may have failed to take the banishment fully into account when imposing the sentence.
"The relationship between a First Nation's banishment order and a sentence under the Criminal Code raises issues of sufficient complexity to support the appointment of publicly funded counsel to assist Mr. Cliffe in presenting his argument," the judge concluded.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton attacked in prison
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a "major assault."
DEVELOPING Defence rests without Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
Passenger killed, 30 injured as Singapore Airlines flight hits severe turbulence
One passenger was killed and 30 injured after a Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI flight from London hit severe turbulence en route on Tuesday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline said.
Feels like mid-30s in parts of Canada, while other areas expecting snow
Anything is possible this week, as far as Canada's weather is concerned, with forecasts ranging from scorching heat in some parts of the country to rain and snow in others.
Canada's inflation cools to 3-year low of 2.7%, in boost for rate cut bets
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to a three-year low of 2.7 per cent in April, matching expectations, and core measures continued to ease, data showed on Tuesday, likely boosting chances of a June interest rate cut.
'Documents are fraudulent': Graceland is not for sale, Elvis Presley's granddaughter says in lawsuit
Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, is fighting plans to publicly auction his Graceland estate in Memphis after a company tried to sell the property based on claims that a loan using the king of rock ’n’ roll's former home as collateral was not repaid.
Trump campaign calls 'The Apprentice' 'blatantly false,' director offers to screen it for him
Donald Trump's reelection campaign called 'The Apprentice,' a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 'pure fiction' and vowed legal action following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Nestle to sell $5 pizza, sandwiches in the U.S. for Wegovy, Ozempic users
Nestle NESN.S will market a new, US$5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
What is BORG drinking, and why is it a dangerous trend? An expert explains
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.