‘It’s like a knife stuck in my chest’: Court hears victim impact statements in Jeremy Hall sentencing hearing
Donna Dixon sat in the public gallery of the courtroom, a brown envelope on her lap. After the Crown read the first victim impact statement, she walked to the witness stand to read her own.
It's like a knife stuck in my chest. I fall asleep because I can't stand being awake," she said. No amount of time will ever heal me from this tragedy."
Dixon is the mother of Billy Mason, who was shot and killed in 2006, his body burned. Jeremy Hall, who is in court this week for his sentencing hearing, was convicted in Mason's death.
Hall, 47, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the case in 2013, but the verdict was overturned in 2019 and a new trial ordered. On Jan. 5, a Hamilton judge found Hall guilty of second-degree murder.
Dixon addressed Hall Wednesday:
Why did you have to kill him?"
Her voice broke repeatedly as she read her own statement, and one from her granddaughter, Chelsey Dixon.
Billy will not be able to walk me down the aisle one day or look into the eyes of his grandchild," wrote Mason's daughter, now 22. I have been missing Billy since I was seven years old."
On the bench, Mason's family wept, occasionally reaching for tissues or each other's hands.
Hall sat unmoved, staring mostly at the floor, while the statements were read.
In the previous days, court heard evidence relating to the length of time Hall had spent in segregation - and the reasons for it - while in custody in Hamilton and elsewhere in Ontario.
On the afternoon of the third day, the defence began submissions, arguing that the extent of Hall's time in segregation violated his charter rights.
The first part focused on three factors: the length of time Hall spent in administrative segregation while in custody, the lack of reviews conducted during those periods of segregation, and the impact the confinement had on his mental health.
This is a dark, bleak and isolated place and in the context of administrative segregation there's no real end in sight," said defence co-counsel Colin Sheppard. I would submit that one couldn't help but have a hopeless feeling."
Sheppard said the total amount of time Hall spent in administrative - not disciplinary - segregation amounts to more than three years, if you include time spent in conditions of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the second part, Hall's lawyer Dirk Derstine submitted that poor and, in some instances, erroneous" information meant his client wasn't treated fairly.
Derstine said the information given to the federal system, which did not include the full length of time Hall was in segregation, was deficient."
One is almost tempted to say suspiciously deficient," he said.
Derstine said the evidence, along with case law presented to the judge, demonstrates that Hall's prolonged segregation violated his charter rights, under section 7 and 12.
They were breached repeatedly, continually and egregiously," he said.
The sentencing hearing continues on Friday.
Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter covering education at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com