Compassion in the courtroom

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This article was published 31/03/2015 (3312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a remarkable scene in the Polo Park area that resembled something out of a Hollywood action flick — a desperate, drug-addicted criminal on a daytime rampage that left numerous victims in his wake.

But it led to an equally remarkable scene in a Winnipeg courtroom Tuesday — one involving raw emotion, brutal honesty and the kind of compassion and forgiveness rarely seen in the justice system.

Jason Bercier, 36, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a slew of charges stemming from the August 2014 spree. They include trying to steal a laptop computer, swiping a tray of jewelry from Walmart, swinging a knife at several bystanders who tried to stop him and violently carjacking an unsuspecting woman to make his reckless escape.

“I’m a complete scumbag,” Bercier said while reading from a handwritten note he’d prepared prior to his sentencing hearing. “My actions were completely inexcusable. This can only be described as despicable.”

Bercier, his hands shaking and voice trembling, spent nearly 15 minutes addressing the court and disparaging himself and the choices he’s made to fuel a long-standing addiction to prescription drugs.

When he was done, a woman in the back of the courtroom raised her hand to get the attention of provincial court Judge Robert Heinrichs.

It was the victim of the carjacking. And the 57-year-old woman was seeking permission to speak directly to the complete stranger who had turned her life upside down more than seven months ago. He jumped through the window of her 2000 Ford Ranger while she sat in the parking lot of a Real Canadian Superstore, wrestling the steering wheel away from her and biting her wrist as she fled for her life.

“I hope you remember this face. I want you to see what you did to me,” the woman said through tears Tuesday.

She repeatedly addressed Bercier by his first name, reminding him of the constant nightmares, distrust of strangers and depression and anxiety she continues to suffer to this day.

But then she got even more personal, telling Bercier how she has two sons around his age.

“Neither have made the kinds of mistakes you have,” she said, adding how she was glad to see his mother, father and grandmother were in court supporting him.

She mentioned how he looked like a totally different person sitting soberly in the courtroom, not the strung-out “animal” she encountered on the day she will never forget.

“I accept your apology. I wish you all the best to get the love and help that you need,” the woman said.

She then urged Bercier to use his time in prison wisely — to upgrade his education, take all the programming that’s offered and come out a better man. And, perhaps, to one day sit down with her and discuss the incident in depth. She then hugged all of Bercier’s family members, telling court she had planned to sit quietly and observe the proceedings but felt moved to speak up “from the heart” when she saw what she felt was true, genuine remorse.

The judge applauded the woman for speaking up. Heinrichs noted how this type of crime spree is frightening to all citizens because of how random and senseless it was. He said he regularly shops at the stores where the incidents happened.

‘I accept your apology. I wish you all the best to get the love and help that you need’ — victim to carjacker

“I may have even been there that same day. I could have been one of the people watching this or even victimized. It’s so outrageous. It’s the kind of thing we sometimes see on TV or movies,” said Heinrichs.

The trouble began when Bercier used a pair of bolt cutters to try to steal a laptop computer from a store on Ellice Avenue. Four employees stopped him and then gave chase when he fled across the street to Walmart, where he smashed a glass display case and stole $5,000 worth of jewelry.

A store security guard intervened, along with the four computer store employees. Bercier pulled out a knife and began swinging it at them, then dashed to the Superstore parking lot and jumped through the window of the car. The bystanders tried to pull him out, managing to get his shoes and pants off, but he escaped after forcing the woman out of the driver’s seat.

Bercier nearly mowed the group of bystanders down when he sped away, stopping first to pick up the duffel bag he’d dropped with the stolen loot. There were no serious injuries.

Police were able to quickly identify him through surveillance video, and he was arrested days later. He has remained in custody ever since.

“On the day in question, he was in the throes of being high,” defence lawyer Amanda Sansregret said Tuesday.

Crown attorney Rustyn Ullrich told court society better hope Bercier is genuine about his desire to turn his troubled life around. If not, he remains a “desperate, very dangerous” individual, he said.

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