REGINA – While the rest of the country was discussing his fate, Robert Latimer was out on his tractor, carrying on his life as normally as possible within the enormous media fishbowl.
The Wilkie, Sask., farmer, who was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his severely disabled 12 year-old daughter Tracy, learned last week that his appeal of both the conviction and his minimum 10-year jail sentence had failed. His lawyer immediately filed papers asking the Supreme Court to hear the case.
Latimer was freed on bail after less than a day spent in an RCMP cell. He had been on bail while awaiting the appeal decision, restricted to his farm.
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Latimer is again restricted to his farm until the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case.
Because of the appeal court split, the case will almost certainly be heard by the Supreme Court. That decision is not likely to be made before autumn, and if the case proceeds it won’t likely occur until this winter. A decision by the Supreme Court can take months or even a year.
Latimer said he killed his daughter because she was in unrelenting pain from a severe form of cerebral palsy. Tracy could barely move in the days leading up to her death.
According to Karin Melberg Schweir of the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living, upholding the conviction sends a message to Canadians that the disabled have the right to live, regardless of how other people view their quality of life.
“It’s a tragic circumstance for the family and for everybody involved, but the fact remains a little girl was killed … It leaves people with disabilities in a very, very vulnerable spot if we condone the taking of somebody’s life based on the fact that they had a disability and were in pain,” said Melberg Schweir.
“I don’t think anybody’s gleeful he’s going to spend 10 years in jail, but somebody’s got to speak for Tracy and other people who would be in a very precarious position across the country if this kind of thing were allowed to happen.”
A different view comes from a farm just one kilometre down the road from Latimer’s farm.
“We’re all surprised and shocked,” said Wilson Barker. “We thought there would be a lot lesser sentence handed down. He broke the law, but the penalty is too stiff. I don’t believe he really committed a crime myself.”
Latimer did what he felt he had to do to end Tracy’s suffering, said Barker, who has known Latimer since he was a boy and knew Tracy all her life. Sending Latimer to jail is pointless, Barker said.
“The man is an absolute no harm toward anybody whatsoever. He’s a very kind and gentle person with his family.”
The three judges of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal did not reach a unanimous decision on the appeal. All three upheld the conviction, but chief justice Edward Bayda disagreed with the 10-year minimum sentence.
Judge Calvin Tallis, writing for the majority, said Latimer did not have the right to decide whether Tracy should live in pain.
“As a self-appointed surrogate decision-maker, he was not entitled to take the criminal law into his own hands and terminate her life,” Tallis wrote. The family also had the option of placing Tracy in a group home if they found they could not bear the strain of her care, Tallis said.
It was not for the court to decide whether the minimum penalties Parliament has placed in the Criminal Code are wise, read the judgment. Parliament has the right to modify the law if it wishes.
Bayda strenuously objected to the 10-year sentence, describing it as “grossly disproportionate” and amounting to “the imposition of a cruel and unusual punishment.”
He described Latimer as “a typical, salt-of-the-earth, 42-year-old prairie farmer … not a murderous thug, devoid of conscience, whose life has been one of violence, greed, contempt for the law and total disrespect for human beings. On the contrary, the actor was a nurturing, caring, giving, respectful, law-abiding responsible parent of the victim.”
Bayda said ignoring the massive public outrage that the sentence provoked “is to risk arrogance”.
While the ethical and legal debate swirls, Barker said Latimer is morally untroubled.
“Bob is so convinced he did the best thing he could do for Tracy that it’s never really bothered him,” he said.
And as the legal process continues, Latimer is dealing with practical matters at home.
“Had he not got bailed, his neighbors would have just gone and finished his summerfallow and would have taken his crop off too. He hopes he’ll be able to take his own crop off now,” said Barker.
