Missing Gladue report brings third sentencing delay for man convicted of 2024 manslaughter

The sentencing for a Saskatoon man convicted of manslaughter has been delayed yet again. Keenan Sorokan reports.

A 23-year-old Saskatoon man convicted of manslaughter in 2024 will have to wait, once again, to learn his fate.

Katlim Desjarlais-Kelly sat in the prisoner’s box on Friday as the sentencing hearing at Court of King’s Bench was delayed for a third time following a conviction in February where a 12-person jury found the 23-year-old guilty of manslaughter for shooting 48-year-old Arden Panipekeesick.

Desjarlais-Kelly shot Panipekeesick after the two men exchanged gunfire in February 2024. A bullet struck Panipekeesick in the neck after passing through a door frame.

Panipekeesick was pronounced dead Feb. 10, 2024, inside his home on 238 Avenue K North.

In March, a pre-sentence report was faxed to the correctional centre but never reached Desjarlais-Kelly, causing an adjournment.

When Desjarlais-Kelly was back before the judge in May, his lawyer Patrick McDougall told the court he needed more time to find someone to complete the Gladue Report.

Gladue reports explore the impact of racism and colonialism on Indigenous offenders. These pre-sentence reports piece together an offender’s life and experiences as an Indigenous person by interviewing the offender and family members.

Judge weigh what they learn in the report as a mitigating factor when determining a sentence.

In 1999, The Supreme Court of Canada directed courts to consider the circumstances of Indigenous offenders due to the over-incarceration of Indigenous people.

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On Friday, McDougall said he still could not find anyone able to write the report with limited report writers available in Saskatchewan. He said without the resource, the responsibility falls on him to write the report.

He told the court he would prefer an Indigenous person to write the report, but without any other option, he will now begin undertaking the project himself.

McDougall is expected to have the Gladue Report ready when sentencing arguments take place on Aug. 28.

-With files from Laura Woodward