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Kelowna  

Dangerous offender or not?

Crown counsel argued in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday that Michael Ellis deserves to be designated a dangerous offender.

Ellis was found guilty in February 2015 of 17 of 22 charges in an infamous 2012 police chase and shootout along Westside Road.

Three people led police on an hour-long pursuit from West Kelowna to Vernon, carjacking several vehicles during the chase.

Ashley Collins, Shawn Wysynski and Michael Ellis were eventually arrested near the Swan Lake junction near Vernon.

Wysynski testified in December 2014 he had forced Ellis at gunpoint to flee from police. Wysynski is currently serving a nine-year sentence for his part in the pursuit.

Collins, who was pregnant at the time, pleaded guilty to knowingly being in a vehicle with illegal firearms and was given an 18-month suspended sentence and 18 months probation. She had suffered a gunshot wound in the abdomen during the shootout, resulting in a miscarriage.

Ellis is the last of the three to be sentenced.

While he pleaded guilty a year and a half ago, the Crown is seeking an additional dangerous or long-term offender designation that would allow for either an indeterminate sentence or federal supervision of Ellis for up to 10 years after his release from jail.

“If your lordship declines in finding Ellis a dangerous offender, the Crown is submitting that the court treat this application as a long-term offender application,” said Crown prosecutor Murray Kaay.

While Ellis's defence counsel, John Gustafson, argued earlier this week that Crown lacks evidence with substance, Kaay said Ellis meets the criteria to be deemed a dangerous offender.

“The Crown's position is that Mr. Ellis ought to be declared a dangerous offender as he constitutes a threat to the life, safety or physical and mental well being of others,” Kaay said.

“He is now 42 years old, he has a total of 56 convictions, he spent much of his adult life in jail. He has been incarcerated in both federal and provincial jails. His record is lengthy, it is serious and it compasses a wide spectrum of offences.”

Kaay said Ellis now has “the dubious distinction” of having been convicted of 20 offences that fall under the dangerous or long-term offender application.

“The Crown contends the evidence does show patterns of repetitive behaviours, and persistently aggressive behaviour.”

Forensic psychologist, Dr. Will Reimer, testified in June 2016 that Ellis is a high risk to reoffend.

A decision on a possible dangerous or long-term offender designation will be heard at a later date.

 – Click here for more Castanet stories on this case



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