A Red Deer prison inmate responsible for a brutal stabbing will find out next month whether a judge considers him a dangerous offender.
Crown prosecutors are seeking to have Chad Alexander Kulba declared a dangerous offender because of his lengthy record of violent crimes, including stabbing a man to death in a downtown Red Deer apartment building on Christmas Day 2015.
He stabbed his victim more than 30 times in the alcohol- and drug-fuelled attack.
In November 2017, Kulba pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
While behind bars at the Red Deer Remand, he got into a brawl with another inmate in April 2018, biting a chunk out of the man’s ear. He was convicted of aggravated assault, but sentencing awaits the dangerous offender decision.
Kulba’s criminal record also includes 2011 convictions for forcible confinement and aggravated assault, a charge of assaulting a peace officer in 2009, as well as other assaults in 2006 and 2003. He was also convicted of numerous other property and breach of court order offences.
Defence lawyer George Lebessis told Red Deer provincial court Judge Bruce Fraser in January that while Kulba has a lengthy record, he has not shown a pattern of violent and uncontrollable behaviour.
Fraser will deliver his sentence on April 22.
When someone is declared a dangerous offender, the judge can order an indeterminate prison sentence, a set prison sentence, or a sentence with a long-term supervision order.
The judge could also declare Kulba a long-term offender, which calls for a sentence of at least two years, plus up to 10 years of long-term supervision. Should the judge choose neither option, Kulba will be sentenced as usual on the aggravated assault charge.
Lebessis told the judge on Monday that he intends to argue that the aggravated assault conviction should be stayed, because the case took an unreasonable amount of time to prosecute and Kulba’s constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated.
The Supreme Court of Canada said in 2o16 that cases should take 18 months in provincial courts and 30 months in superior courts, with some exceptions.
Lebessis said there may not be time to deal with the unreasonable delay application on April 22, and it may return to court later for a decision.
Kulba remains in custody and was not present in court Monday.