Son of victim killed in a road rage incident may not be allowed to deliver victim impact statement
A trained martial artist convicted of killing, but acquitted of murdering, a man 40 years his senior has given an apology in court.
Police & Courts
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A trained martial artist has been convicted of killing, but acquitted of murdering, a man 40 years his senior – and the victim’s son may not get to give his impact statement about the crime.
On Friday morning, Supreme Court Justice David Peek found Francois Joseph Ghassibe not guilty of the murder of Brian Max Richardson following a trial last week.
Ghassibe had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter, conceding he acted in excessive self-defence when he repeatedly punched Mr Richardson, then kicked him in the head when he was defenceless.
After the verdict, Ghassibe apologised in court to Mr Richardson’s family.
“I cannot possibly express how deeply sorry and truly apologetic I am … words cannot explain the deep regret I carry with me now,” he said.
“I will never be able to forgive myself and I anticipate I will probably never be forgiven by you … I pray you can find some peace and healing from this trauma I have caused you.
“I am guilty and will have to serve a sentence for this horrible mistake, but there’s a worse sentence I will have to serve now and forevermore – the guilt and shame of having taken a life.”
When Justice Peek said he wanted to hear submissions on sentence on Friday afternoon, and impose penalty next week, prosecutor Lisa Dunlop said that created an issue for Mr Richardson’s family.
“I’ve received, prior to today, three victim impact statements, and another as I’ve sat here at the bar table today,” she said.
“But the victim’s son is a commercial fisherman, he’s been on a boat since last week and he’s spoken very strongly about wanting to provide a victim impact statement.”
She said she “implored” the court allow Mr Richardson’s son an additional week to draft his statement, and time to speak on the day of sentencing, but Justice Peek said that request concerned him.
He said the case was “a little bit different” from others because, due to Ghassibe’s guilty plea, “it’s been known” for some time “there would be sentencing submissions”.
“The person to whom you’ve referred has known that and has had a lot of time to think about it and provide a victim impact statement,” he said.
Justice Peek agreed to postpone sentencing for 10 days.
“If a written victim impact statement is received from him by then, of course I can take it into account … if not, it will just be too late,” he said.
Mr Ghassibe, 32, of Mansfield Park, pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murdering Mr Richardson, 70, in the April 1, 2022 incident.
Prosecutors alleged he intervened in a traffic dispute between his taxi driver and Mr Richardson, felling the older man with an “onslaught” of punches and a kick to the chin.
Mr Richardson’s wife and the taxi driver gave conflicting accounts of the incident, while Mr Ghassibe maintained he was defending himself after being struck first.
In his written verdict, Justice Peek ruled Mr Richardson “was very angry” and had “seriously assaulted” the taxi driver before Ghassibe “attempted to intervene peacefully”.
He further ruled Mr Richardson had “commenced to behave most aggressively” in response by punching him in the chest and left eye, and by grabbing his shirt.
Justice Peek said he “rejected” Mrs Richardson’s evidence that Mr Richardson did not want to fight, and that Ghassibe had goaded him, “as completely inaccurate”.
He said that, after his arrest, Ghassibe had told police “gratuitous violence was the last thing on his mind” and “expressed concern” for Mr Richardson “and sadness the incident had occurred at all”.
Justice Peek said it would be “unsafe to reason” that Ghassibe intended to kill because “it is a matter of common experience” that people may “impulsively perform acts” when “in a heightened state of stress or emotion”.
The likeliness of impulsivity rather than murderous intent was, he said, bolstered by Ghassibe’s use of alcohol and cocaine prior to the incident.
“I find that the accused, in delivering the flurry of blows and then the kick, intended to put the deceased to the ground forcefully,” he said.
“However, I am simply not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that, at the time of administering the flurry of blows or the kick, the accused possessed the specific intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm required for the crime of murder to be established.
“Accordingly, I find that the accused is not guilty of the crime of murder.”
In her victim impact statement, Mrs Richardson said she was “in complete shock” and “felt helpless” throughout the incident due to “extreme terror and anxiety”.
She said she and the couple’s children further suffered because Mr Richardson died during Covid-19 restrictions, limiting their final moments with him in hospital.
“Max and I were so connected, he was the love of my life, but I wasn’t allowed to touch him or kiss him or stay with him very long,” she said.
“Every day now is lonely … I’ve no more laughter, joy or happiness … you (Ghassibe) have totally disrupted my life … I hope justice prevails and you get the sentence you deserve.”
Mr Richardson’s daughter and foster son said Ghassibe would “receive nothing like a life sentence” for his “split-second” and “extreme” actions, unlike the “unimaginable pain” they were left to endure.
Nick Vadasz, for Ghassibe, said none of what happened that day, including Mr Richardson’s “unprovoked assault”, was “an event of Ghassibe’s making”.
His crime, he said, amounted to “taking one step too far, but only one step” while defending himself, adding he “fully accepted” responsibility and appreciated the Richardson family’s “loss and grief”.
Mr Vadasz said that meant the crime fell “at the very bottom of the range of seriousness”, warranting a low sentence and non-parole period.
Ms Dunlop asked the court to reject that submission.
“At the end of the day, Ghassibe could have walked away … he made a choice, there was a moment for him to do something other than deliver a kick to a man’s head,” she said.
Justice Peek remanded Ghassibe in custody for sentencing later this month.
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