A young Sunchild man was found not guilty of aggravated assault on Thursday following a Red Deer Queen’s Bench trial involving the shooting of an ATV rider at Sunchild First Nation in the spring.
But Gerry Edward Bigchild, 19, was found guilty of careless use of a firearm. He was given a conditional sentence and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
The jury deliberated for over 11 hours, sequestered overnight on Wednesday, before rendering a verdict.
The jury also found Bigchild not guilty of possession of a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence and not guilty of using a firearm while committing an indictable offence.
During the trial, the defence admitted that Jonathan Mackinaw, 19, was shot in the left ankle with a .22-calibre rifle by Bigchild on May 24 at about 2 a.m. The incident occurred on property where Bigchild lived next to his grandfather Gerry Redbear.
“I’m sure you knew much better than what you did that night. What you did that night was inexcusable,” Justice Alan Macleod told Bigchild during sentencing on Thursday.
But a conditional discharge should be considered because of Bigchild’s “exemplary character,” Macleod said.
According to information provided to the court, Bigchild was a good, obedient young man, the lead hunter for his extended family with a healthy lifestyle playing hockey and was a “leading member of his family and community,” the justice said.
Upon the successful completion of his community service, Bigchild would not have an adult criminal record.
Crown prosecutor Wayne Silliker said Bigchild should be sentenced to a $500 fine after firing three shots into the air and two shots at Mackinaw’s quad.
Defence lawyer Luke Kurata recommended a conditional sentence.
Kurata said his client was put into a situation “not of his own making” and was remorseful. Bigchild was not acting as a vigilante, but followed his grandfather, who has a heart condition, outside that night when quads were heard on their remote property on Sunchild.
Mackinaw previously testified that he and his friend were looking for a place to buy marijuana when they became stuck in muskeg in a field near Bigchild and his grandfather’s houses.
The quad that Mackinaw had been riding had been reported stolen the day before from the Brazeau Dam area. A second quad found abandoned nearby had been reported stolen from Rocky on May 5.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com