A man who left his victim with head injuries that needed 40 staples to close up after getting drunk in Osoyoos will spend almost 18 months in jail.
On June 1, Michael Jordan Cody Shalagan-Morsette, 25, was sentenced for aggravated assault following a joint submission by defence and Crown, which asked for 16 to 18 months jail time.
Once Shalagan-Morsette is released, he will be under a two-year probation, which includes bans on substances including alcohol.
In court, he stated that he accepted the responsibility for his actions, and wished to apologize to his victim and his victim’s friends and family.
On Dec. 14, 2019, Shalagan-Morsette, along with several others, came to Osoyoos to watch the UFC fight at the Sage Pub. The victim joined the group to watch the fight, which ended late at night. Shalagan-Morsette consumed between 10 to 12 drinks of various types over the evening.
The victim then left the pub along with Shalagan-Morsette and another man who had initially been co-accused on the case.
A few minutes before midnight the victim stumbled back into the pub with multiple lacerations on his head, and blood all over his body. There were lacerations on his head, a large laceration on his shoulder and lacerations on both knees and legs. His eyes were also swollen shut from the beating he had received.
He was taken to hospital where he was found to have suffered a broken eye socket, cuts, bruises and damage that left his body with permanent scars, damage to his eye and a brain injury.
As a result of his injuries he can no longer work or drive a car, he suffers from severe anxiety and requires daily help from either family members or medical professionals to be able to function, according to the Crown.
Due to his own alcohol consumption and the head injuries he received, the victim could not recall everything that lead up to the assault that night, only that words were exchanged with one of the two men he was walking with, before he was hit in the back of the head.
The only other thing he recalled was waking up on the ground and still being attacked, and he had no memory of how he was able to get back to the pub. At least one video clip of several recovered from surveillance cameras in the area showed Shalagan-Morsette standing over his victim and delivering several blows while he was on the ground.
“It is clear from the video surveillance that [the victim] was initially prepared to have a fight, but of course we don’t know because [the victim] can’t remember what the dispute was about, however it certainly didn’t end in a consensual fight sort of way,” said the judge. “There’s no question that [the victim] is in any position to defend himself in any way, he was being beaten on the ground.”
Among the mitigating factors cited in the joint submission was the fact that Shalagan-Morsette’s guilty plea meant his victim would not be forced to come to trial and testify.
Since being arrested in 2020, Shalagan-Morsette has stayed sober. As part of the terms of his probation he will be able to make a direct apology to his victim as exception to a no-contact order with him.
There were 39 days taken off Shalagan-Morsette’s 18-month sentence for time served.
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