REGINA – Saskatchewan’s highest court reduced a Meadow Lake woman’s prison sentence by two years.
In August 2020, in Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench, Tammy Louise Rutt was given a global sentence of nine years in prison for attempted murder, possession of a firearm when prohibited, uttering threats, and obstructing a police officer. Eight years were for the attempted murder charge.
Rutt had appealed the attempted murder sentence. During her appeal, however, the Appeal Court questioned whether Rutt may have been convicted of the wrong attempted murder offence.
There was no evidence Rutt had attempted to murder her husband using a restricted or prohibited firearm, wrote Justice Neal W. Caldwell, in agreement with Justices Brian Barrington-Foote and Jeffery D. Kalmakoff on Nov. 2. The Criminal Code charge of attempted murder using a restricted firearm is 239(1)(a).
Instead, Rutt had used a non-restricted firearm and there was no evidence it was converted into a prohibited firearm. This means she should have been charged with s. 239(1)(a.1).
The Appeal Court substituted her Criminal Code s. 239(1)(a) conviction for attempted murder under s. 239(1)(a.1).
“Based on our assessment of Ms. Rutt’s moral culpability in the circumstances and of the seriousness of her offence, after correcting for error in the trial judge’s assessment, we would have imposed—as of the date of her original sentencing—a sentence of seven years of imprisonment,” wrote Justice Caldwell.
Court documents show that on June 18, 2018, Rutt’s husband and her uncle were sitting on the porch of a cabin after a day’s work. Louise Rutt came around a corner of the cabin, raised a .22 calibre rifle, pointed it at her husband, said, “I’m going to kill you,” and pulled the trigger. The rifle didn’t discharge and Rutt’s uncle grabbed the weapon and unloaded it.
At the time Rutt was under a 10-year firearms prohibition and when confronted by the RCMP she gave a false name.
Attempted murder sentences vary
Sentences for attempted murder with a firearm range from four to 16 years of imprisonment.
“The Court has no hesitation concluding that Parliament considers attempted murder involving a firearm to be one of the most serious offences under the Criminal Code,” said Justice Caldwell.
The Court of Appeal said the fact that Rutt attempted to kill her intimate partner and she had a history of uttering threats and making false criminal complaints against her husband, aggravated the seriousness of her offence.
Rutt’s criminal record wasn’t considered aggravating because there were no violent offences but the fact that she was under a weapons prohibition and a judicial interim release were aggravating.
Mitigating Gladue Factors
The Appeal Court said Rutt’s past was well summarized by the trial court’s sentencing decision. The court had acknowledged there were many Gladue factors present in Rutt’s life, which affected her moral culpability.
During her trial in Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench, her husband provided a letter of support for Rutt and said she was taking steps in overcoming her “horrific haunting past.”
Rutt, who was 50 at the time of the offences, is an Indigenous woman of Plains Cree descent and was born in Meadow Lake. She attended Meadow Lake Day School and Prince Albert Indian Residential School. Her mother and maternal grandparents also spent time in residential schools.
The Gladue Report on Rutt said these schools were “a notorious progenitor of the legacy of trauma and adverse effects that are now well-documented consequences of the schools.”
The Gladue Report referenced excess alcohol use and domestic violence in Rutt’s home during her early childhood years as well as her apprehension and placement into foster care. Rutt says she was physically, emotionally and sexually abused while in the various foster homes, was treated like a slave and had to do “manual labour by picking rocks in the hot sun all day without breaks” until her “hands were raw."
The report showed that while growing up in foster care Rutt was allowed supervised visits with her parents and then unsupervised visits and that was the only time she was exposed to her culture and traditions.
When returning to her foster home, “she said she was punished for showing any of her cultural traditions, such as the times she showed interest in beading or sewing. Also, after returning from a visit with her family the foster family accused her of smelling. The smell they were referring to was ‘sage’ or ‘Sweetgrass.’”
Rutt also encountered significant personal loss losing 17-18 people while in custody waiting for her trial.
“It is clear that Gladue considerations affected Ms. Rutt’s moral culpability for the commission of her offence,” said Justice Caldwell. “As such, a proportionate sentence should be lower than what might have been imposed on an offender whose moral culpability had been assessed in the absence of these Gladue factors.
“Taking all of this into account, we find a fit sentence for the offence of attempted murder in the individual circumstances of this offender and this offence is seven years of imprisonment.”
Taking Rutt’s pretrial custody and the time she has served in prison into account, she has four years and just over one month left to serve.
