- Joined
- Feb 28, 2017
Well sure he got less overall time but I'm not sure I don't still disagree that it's the wrong outcome. I mean, call me if he reoffends, maybe I'll change my mind, but it seems to me he had two entire years before he was even allowed a supervised outdoor walk and another two before he was allowed 30 minutes alone. Remember we're talking about a guy who only did what he did because he's severely schizophrenic. That's a treatable condition. Being a raging psychopath who swears he'll kill again when you let him out is not treatable and those are the types that get labelled dangerous offenders. You protect the public safety more if you treat it (under legal force) than if you don't. How many gang members just serve their time and then go out and shoot another dude within a week? That's not treatable. I think it's easy to look at that timeline and think it's unjust, but if you consider the full picture, it's really not as bad as it sounds. By all accounts this man responded well to treatment. Some don't but I'm not the professional who decides that. I don't think any of us will ever have enough information about his medical history to really judge tbh.You can see the timeline for Vince Li here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Tim_McLean#Aftermath
2008 : Killed Tim McLean
2010 : supervised outdoor walks within his mental health facility
2012 : granted temporary passes that would allow him out of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre for visits to the town of Selkirk, supervised by a nurse and peace officer
2014 : unsupervised visits to Selkirk, starting at 30 minutes and expanding to full-day trips. Since 2013, he had been allowed to have supervised visits to Lockport, Winnipeg, and nearby beaches.
2015 : unsupervised day passes to visit Winnipeg so long as he carried a functioning cellular telephone while using them
2016 : it was reported that Li had legally changed his name and was seeking to leave his group home to live independently.[36] He won the right to live alone in February 26 upon the recommendation of the Criminal Code Review Board
2017 : Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board ordered Li be discharged. Li was granted an absolute discharge. There will be no legal obligations or restrictions pertaining to Li's independent living.
HuffPo reports he was granted the right to live on his own in 2016 having been transferred to a group home the previous year
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/...-to-eventually-live-on-his-own_n_9321924.html
Now if you compare that to a typical life sentence where you spend more time in prison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imprisonment_in_Canada#Mandatory_life_sentence ...
and
... it's clear that Li got off with less time than if he'd been convicted of first degree murder or labelled a dangerous offender.
According to what I've read, if you are considered NCR and reoffend, you cannot be considered NCR a second time though. You would be fucked for life and be sentenced as though you were not NCR for the first offense. It's not a lifetime pass.
Edit: this has gone way OT though so I'm sorry all. It's an interesting debate to have somewhere else though.
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