Mitigating Circumstances-Up Your Ass

A human being died which is forever but his attacker will probably be on the street in 6 months or less and because this piece of crap was called the N word. A punch in the mouth would be fair compensation but kicking the person in the head several times warrants hard time in a federal prison where I am sure one of his brothers will take him under his wing and blankets.

Youth 'clearly went too far'

Teen pleads guilty in beating death of senior
Court sentences him to 18 months in jail

Oct. 11, 2006. 06:41 AM

PETER SMALL

COURTS BUREAU

A youth who punched and repeatedly kicked a senior citizen, sending him to a hospital where he later died, has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and been sentenced to 18 months in jail."This was a brutal and vicious assault on a vulnerable segment of society," Crown prosecutor Jon McGrath told youth court yesterday. Although Justice Gail Dobney agreed, she cited mitigating factors that victim Bob Tracey, 68, was reported to have flung a racial epithet at the black youth as he walked along Sheppard Ave. E. at Warden Ave. last Jan. 13, and tried to land the first blow. The youth had the right to defend himself, but "clearly went too far," Dobney said. Outside court, Tracey's relatives immediately questioned part of a statement of facts submitted by both the Crown and defence lawyer Ugo Cara. It described the retired electrician as bumping into the youth and calling him and his two female friends "f----n' n----rs" before unsuccessfully trying to punch him."It's so unfair," his sister-in-law Margaret Tracey said. "Bob's not here to say what happened."After crediting pre-sentencing custody, the youth, 17, who cannot be named, will serve four more months in jail, followed by two more under community supervision.According to the agreed facts, the youth's female friends said he was upset by the racial insult and asked Tracey why he used it.After Tracey missed punching him, the youth hit the father of five in the head twice, knocking him to the ground, then continued to beat him, according to the statement. Tracey grabbed the youth's jacket, trying to bring him down, but he extricated himself "and forcefully kicked Mr. Tracey in the head several times as he lay prone," the statement says.He lost consciousness and started convulsing.Tracey was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital suffering from brain bleeding, a fractured eye socket and broken nasal bones. He underwent a craniotomy to relieve brain pressure, but died Feb. 5.The youth was charged with second-degree murder.But on Feb. 7 a pathologist reported that Tracey died of a heart attack that was not caused by his injuries. The youth's charge was decreased to aggravated assault.The judge said yesterday it's clear that Tracey might not have died but for the attack.In her victim impact statement, Tracey's daughter Karen Tracey-Campbell, said her father was little more than a "rag doll" in the three weeks before he died. "Tuesdays are the hardest ... because Dad used to come out to my house to spend time with the kids," Tracey-Campbell said. Margaret Tracey, in her victim impact statement, said, "No man who has worked hard all his life deserves to die on the side of a road on a cold Jan. 13 while out for his afternoon walk."Before he was sentenced, the youth apologized to the family, as his mother, stepfather and sister looked on."It was nothing that I planned to do," he said. "It just wasn't my character. I just got mad that day and I acted out."