Hey everyone, Lindsay’s appeal is today. Apparently they are live-streaming it so if anyone is interested in watching the proceedings you should be able to view it here:
Appeal Court usually starts at 10AM so should be active in 10 minutes or so.
Enjoy!!
EDIT
Decision is reserved. Here are the tweets from a reporter who attended:
Natasha Pace
@NatashaPace
2 hours ago, 51 tweets, 6 min read Read on Twitter
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal will hear the case of Lindsay Souvannarath this morning. @CTVAtlantic #Halifax
Souvannarath is an American woman who was sentenced to life in prison for plotting a Valentine's Day shooting at a Halifax mall.
Police stopped the plan after receiving an anonymous tip. As part of her sentence, Souvannarath is not eligible to apply for parole for a decade.
Court is about to get underway. Souvannarath is being represented by lawyer Peter Planetta. He says this case is a special set of circumstances.
A panel of 3 judges are hearing the appeal. Souvannarath is not present for the hearing.
“This is a conspiracy to commit murder,” Planetta says, saying this is not a new offence.
Planetta says there is an error which makes the sentence unjust.
The 3 judges hearing this morning’s appeal are Bourgeois, Saunders & Derrick.
Timothy O’Leary is here for the Prosecution.
Peter Planetta is already being questioned by each of the judges about Lindsay Souvannarath’s lack of remorse.
Last year, the parents of Lindsay Souvannarath said in a letter to justice officials that she was sad & lonely, not capable of violence. More here:
Parents of Halifax mall murder plotter say she is not capable of violence
The family of Lindsay Souvannarath, the American woman sentenced to life in prison for plotting a Valentine's Day shooting rampage at a Halifax mall, says she was bullied in school and struggled with…
The family of Lindsay Souvannarath, the American woman sentenced to life in prison for plotting a Valentine's Day shooting rampage at a Halifax mall, says she was bullied in school and struggled with being biracial.
atlantic.ctvnews.ca
Planetta says there are 3 grounds for the appeal. The first is that the sentence is harsh & excessive.
Planetta says the second ground for the appeal is the there was a strategic burden placed on the accused to prove she was remorseful.
Justice Saunders questioning Planetta about the remorse aspect. He says Souvannarath could have given evidence about her state-of-mind at the time.
During her sentencing, Justice Peter Rosinski told the court Souvannarath continues to pose a threat to public safety. You can read more on her sentencing here:
U.S. woman sentenced to life in Valentine's Day shooting plot at Halifax mall
She sat motionless in the wood-panelled, windowless courtroom as the judge delivered the sentence: Life in prison with no chance of parole for a decade.
She sat motionless in the wood-panelled, windowless courtroom as the judge delivered the sentence: Life in prison with no chance of parole for a decade.
atlantic.ctvnews.ca
Souvannarath pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. The plea took place after thousands of Facebook messages were deemed admissible as evidence.
Judges are citing a decision from a court in Ontario on how lack of remorse can be a factor in sentencing.
One of the exhibits that came to light during the court process was that Souvannarath penned a suicide note, to be published after the planned attack. “I am now dead,” she wrote. More here:
Halifax mall plotter penned suicide note to be published after mass shooting
It's a modern-day suicide note: Four paragraphs to be posthumously published online the day after a planned Valentine's Day massacre at one of Atlantic Canada's busiest shopping malls.
It's a modern-day suicide note: Four paragraphs to be posthumously published online the day after a planned Valentine's Day massacre at one of Atlantic Canada's busiest shopping malls.
atlantic.ctvnews.ca
Planetta now speaking about terrorism, what a traditional terrorist would be defined as.
It also came to light through court exhibits that Souvannarath & the other mall plotters admired the Columbine killers. More on that here:
Halifax mall plotters admired Columbine killers, court document reveals
They started sending online messages to each other on Dec. 21, 2014, an innocuous online chat about coffee and creative writing.
They started sending online messages to each other on Dec. 21, 2014, an innocuous online chat about coffee and creative writing.
atlantic.ctvnews.ca
Justice Derrick says this case is unique, cites other cases of conspiracy to commit murder.
Planetta again says this isn’t a terrorism case & that Souvannarath was never charged with a terrorism offence.
Justice Bourgeois says this case was unique because there wasn’t a plan to take out a specific family of 4, or 5, which sometimes happens. This was a plan to commit mass murder & kill whoever was in the food court at the mall on Valentine’s Day.
Planetta now reading messages that were exchanged between the mall plotters. In them, Souvannarath tells James Gamble that she has never fired a gun.
Planetta says this is not a sophisticated terrorist.
James Gamble killed himself as police tried to arrest him after they received an anonymous tip about the plot. Randall Shepherd and Souvannarath were arrested at the Halifax airport on Feb. 13, 2015.
A series of messages now being read in court by one of the appeal judges. In them, Gamble questions the location of the proposed plot.
In the messages, Souvannarath says she is excited. Planetta now completes his arguments.
O’Leary now up. He starts off by saying there was no mistake in the law.
O’Leary says this case is unique.
O’Leary says an attack was imminent.
O’Leary says within 36 hours of Souvannarath arriving in Halifax, a mass murder was planned to take place.
O’Leary says Souvannarath did not change her mind on the attack, she was stopped.
Planetta previously said Souvannarath’s life sentence is more harsh than that of Randall Steven Shepherd. He was sentenced to a decade in prison.
O’Leary says Souvannarath didn’t just plan, she acted. She was in Halifax.
O’Leary says there was no error on the part of the trial judge when it comes to the sentencing of Souvannarath.
O’Leary says the sentence was at the high end. He says when it comes to Shepherd, he never planned to kill anyone.
O’Leary says he doesn’t agree with Planetta that the sentence is too long.
The court has previously heard that Gamble had asked Shepherd to join the plot. Shepherd helped Gamble by recording videos at the mall & meeting Souvannarath at the airport.
O’Leary says the actions of Souvannarath & Gamble were very close to being a terrorist attack.
O’Leary answering questions about aggravating factors in this particular case.
O’Leary now speaking about the Moncton shooting, where 3 officers were killed. He says being an amateur doesn’t mean there’s a lack of danger.
Justice Derrick now questioning O’Leary. He says this plan was to kill random people. He says one of the cases Planetta pointed out involved a targeting shooting of an individual outside of the children’s hospital.
Here’s a detailed article which outlines the relationship between Souvannarath & Gamble:
Halifax mall plotters admired Columbine killers, court document reveals
They started sending online messages to each other on Dec. 21, 2014, an innocuous online chat about coffee and creative writing.
They started sending online messages to each other on Dec. 21, 2014, an innocuous online chat about coffee and creative writing.
atlantic.ctvnews.ca
O’Leary now quoting from the transcript of the sentencing hearing. He is answering questions about remorse.
O’Leary says Souvannarath is intelligent, she knows right from wrong. The problem, he says, is that what she finds right is morally reprehensible.
Derrick questions O’Leary now. She asks if there was any evidence to show Souvannarath would have access to treatment.
O’Leary completes arguments.
Planetta now back up. He is going over some of the elements that O’Leary spoke about.
Planetta says Souvannarath’s trial lawyer didn’t say she wasn’t remorseful.
The panel of judges say they will reserve their decision on the case for a later date.
