ATHABASCA – A 43-year-old man ended up with a three-month jail sentence after a court saga ended nearly three years to the day after it began.
In Athabasca Court of Justice March 11, James Graham Moffat pleaded guilty to assaulting a peace officer and a reduced charge of taking a motor vehicle without consent, as part of a joint submission between Crown prosecutor Jonathan Avey and defence counsel George Lebessis.
“His behaviour at all times was, to put it mildly, entirely unacceptable,” said Avey. “From resisting officers on the side of the road, kicking and punching to the point where he had to be Tasered, gives us an idea of the level of resistance he was displaying.”
Justice Gordon Putnam accepted the joint submission, agreeing with Avey’s assessment of the events. Putnam sentenced Moffat to a 90-day straight jail term, which will see the man free to go without probation as Moffat had already roughly 80 days in pre-trial custody.
As part of the joint submission, three counts of resisting a peace officer, two counts of obstructing a peace officer, one additional count of assaulting a police officer, and single counts of possessing stolen property over $5,000, failure to hold a valid operator’s licence, careless driving, driving without insurance, and failure to comply with release order conditions were withdrawn.
Lebessis told court his client had witnessed his brother get shot and die earlier in the day and was heavily intoxicated during the incident.
“He’s embarrassed for his actions, he wants to put it behind him and wants to get back to work,” said Lebessis.
The charges stemmed from a March 12, 2021 incident, where Redwater RCMP were headed to an unrelated call at around 10:30 in the morning when they came across a black Dodge Ram truck stuck in the ditch.
Moffat was found in the driver’s seat, unconscious but breathing. After calling EMS and requesting additional officers come assist, the RCMP received a call about a stolen truck that matched the vehicle they had found — the caller’s description of the man that had stolen the truck matched also Moffat.
Once the officers were able to wake Moffat up, Avey told court the man became assaultive towards the police.
“He ignored all commands given to exit the vehicle, he was attempting to kick members, and he closed the door to keep himself inside,” said Avey.
Once the RCMP got the door open, Moffat punched one officer in the head, before kicking another. He continued to resist officers through the entire process, at one point pinning his arms under his body so the Mounties couldn’t cuff him, and faking medical episodes.
Once he was transported to the Redwater RCMP detachment’s cells, Moffat continued to be confrontational. Avey said Moffat spit on officers, threatened to hurt members for arresting him, and hit another officer who was in the cell block.
“Property crime in rural, particularly related to vehicles, is an ongoing and persistent problem,” said Avey. “The victim in the crime, Moffat’s aunt, is no less a victim because she is related to him — even in those circumstances, one must obtain permission before taking a vehicle that belongs to someone else.
“To spit on anyone is disgusting behaviour. Quite frankly, most of us learn as children we are not to spit on others, so for an adult to do that, particularly to a police officer, is like I said, entirely unacceptable.”
