An addiction to crystal meth contributed to Brandon Edward Orlean Harris’ failure to appear in court several times, which eventually landed him before a judge to officially resolve his matters.
Harris, 22, appeared in Moose Jaw provincial court on Nov. 21, where he pleaded guilty to four charges of failing to attend court and one charge of breaching his curfew. As part of a joint submission, he was fined $50 for each charge, for a total of $250. Since he had been in jail since Nov. 15 — or seven days — he was given time-and-a-half credit of 11 days.
The Crown stayed three other charges.
“These matters are definitely minor versus what we usually see,” said Crown prosecutor Stephen Yusuff.
Harris breached an undertaking by failing to obey his curfew order on Feb. 27. He had been ordered previously to remain in his home from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m., however, when police came to his home they discovered he wasn’t there, Yusuff said.
His charges for failing to attend court occurred on May 27, July 29, Sept. 13, and Oct. 7.
Harris lives with his father in Moose Jaw, explained Legal Aid lawyer Suzanne Jeanson. He has no job but wants to upgrade his education since he never finished high school. He hasn’t worked in a while, since he is injured.
“He used crystal meth regularly until three months ago. He has been clean since then,” she continued, adding he wants to attend Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings.
He also has to perform 30 hours of community service based on a previous probation order. Once that is complete, Harris would prefer to work off his fines.
Harris told Judge Murray Hinds that he has been clean for three months since he stopped spending time with certain friends, wants to turn around his life, and was attending NA meetings.
“I think you’re going to find you’ve done well to maintain your sobriety today, but you’re going to need some support in the future so you don’t go back to your old ways,” said Hinds. “Changing your friends group is a good idea because going back to the old friends who are using will likely get you back into that.”
Hinds noted that most of Harris’ failures to attend court occurred when he used drugs. He hoped Harris sorted out his life, although it sounded as if that was already happening.
Hinds accepted the joint submission and gave Harris until April 30 to pay his fines. Although Harris might be impecunious, the judge wanted him to focus on remaining sober and completing his community service.
Moose Jaw provincial court next sits on Nov. 25.
