SA Judge Paul Muscat says it is ‘disheartening’ for courts to pass harsh mandatory sentences on killer drivers who are of good character
SENTENCING a man who caused a fatal crash because he was watching a wrestling DVD while driving on a country highway is “extremely disheartening” because politicians demand a mandatory minimum sentence, a judge has said.
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SENTENCING killer drivers is “extremely disheartening” for courts because state law demands they serve mandatory penalties while drug dealers, sex offenders and armed robbers do not, a judge says.
On Thursday, District Court Judge Paul Muscat outlined the “troubling” task of penalising a driver who killed another man while distracted by his in-car DVD player.
He called Mitchell Deane Franklin’s case “one of the more difficult sentencings” he would impose as “extraordinary” laws require the killer serve 80 per cent of his penalty behind bars.
“In every respect, apart from the commission of this serious offence, he (Franklin) has been a good citizen,” he said.
“It’s extremely disheartening, I suppose is the way to put it, that the law requires a mandatory minimum non-parole period of 80 per cent to be fixed in relation to this offence.
“Dare I say, of all the crimes one has to sentence for in this court, this is the one that troubles most judges.
“More often than not, the offender is a man of otherwise good character and yet four-fifths is the minimum non-parole period.
“That’s not the case if I was sentencing a sex offender, a drug dealer, an armed robber.
“It’s just extraordinary that they (Parliament) has seen fit to prescribe a minimum non-parole period for this crime.”
Franklin, 28, of Andrews Farm, killed Harvie Spencer, 86, by driving dangerously on the Augusta Highway in June 2013.
A jury found, beyond reasonable doubt, he was distracted by a wrestling event — WWE’s SmackDown: No Way Out — being shown on the in-dashboard DVD player.
Had be not been distracted, his trial heard, Franklin would have had up to 10 seconds to avoid slamming into Mr Spencer’s sedan.
Franklin faces a maximum sentence of 15 years’ jail — had speed, alcohol or drugs been involved, that penalty would have been life imprisonment.
In sentencing submissions on Thursday, Stephen Apps, for Franklin, asked the court to show leniency given his client’s excellent prior character and genuine remorse.
Judge Muscat said there was little he could do.
“There’s no doubt Franklin is a good man, a good son, a good husband to his wife and a good parent to his children,” he said.
“But all that does not assist in the fixing of a non-parole period, which is set by Parliament ... quite frankly, I think he should have pleaded guilty.”
Michael Foundas, prosecuting, said neither a suspended sentence nor home detention were appropriate in Franklin’s case.
Judge Muscat agreed the offending was serious, and not at the lower end of the sentencing scale.
He said it reflected society’s “addiction” to electronic devices, including mobile phones, and the dangers that posed to road users.
“I’m having to sentence a good man for his first crime, a crime that does not involve a criminal intent,” he said.
“This is certainly going to be one of the more difficult sentencings I’m going to have to pass in this court.”
He remanded Franklin on bail for sentencing next week.