Woman released after guilty pleas to charges
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on March 21, 2024.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A woman facing 20 criminal charges, most of them for property related offences, has been sent to jail after pleading guilty to 13 of the charges.Misty Rose Many Shots pleaded guilty in Lethbridge court of justice to seven counts of mischief, three counts of failing to comply with probation, and single counts of failing to comply with an undertaking, assault and theft.
The Crown recommended a five-month jail sentence and suggested that, given all of Many Shots’ offences and her criminal record, the sentence is actually lenient. Defence, on the other hand, suggested a sentence of three-and-a-half months, which would complete his client’s sentence after being credited for time she has already spent in custody since her arrest.
Justice Kristin Ailsby acknowledged the Crown’s “reasonable position” on sentencing, and expressed concern over Misty Shots’ behaviour and her penchant for violence, particularly in relation to her drug use.
But she also considered her challenges as a vulnerable Indigenous woman, the intergenerational trauma she has experienced in her life, the drug-related deaths of her father and sister, and her “exceptional” efforts to become sober and maintain her sobriety through treatment.
Ailsby sentenced Many Shots to 94 days in jail, satisfied by her time spent in pre-disposition custody.
The first of the offences to which Many Shots pleaded guilty began on June 6, 2023 when she threw rocks at a motor vehicle. Police found her downtown, and she claimed a man in a car tried to run her over. Police also found a knife inside a bag she was carrying, even though she was on a probation prohibiting her from possessing weapons.
The following month, on Canada Day, Many Shots was caught trying to break into a shed at the Seventh Day Adventist Church on 16 Avenue South. When police arrived the pastor was attempting to help Many Shots, whose leg got caught in the locked shed door when she attempted to squeeze through by pulling on the bottom of the door.
Two weeks later she was caught in the southside Walmart store at 12:09 a.m. where she had “barricaded” herself in the bathroom and pointed a can of hairspray at a public safety officer when he attempted to open the door. She was, court was told, high at the time.
Many Shots’ remaining offences occurred between October of last year and January of this year, beginning on Oct. 7 when she was charged with mischief and assault. Many Shots smashed the windshield of a car parked in an alley downtown after a man and two women refused to give her drugs. She then hit one of the women.
A week later Many Shots was at her mother’s home, where, according to her mother, Many Shots “destroyed a room in the residence and stole her bank card.” Many shots used a pole to break a TV and put a hole in a wall, which frightened her mother, prompting her to call police.
On the evening of Nov. 5 Many Shots was at a fast food restaurant on the northside where she smashed a customer’s window then fled on a bicycle. When police caught up to her she was arrested for mischief and failing to comply with probation, which prohibited her from possessing weapons. Police learned she had taken a knife from her pouch and threw it at the window of an SUV, smashing the rear window.
Earlier in the day, Many Shots was in an alley on the northside where, according to a homeowner, she tried to break down a fence and garage door with a brick. She claimed she was looking for her husband or daughter. A neighbour also called the police and said a woman had entered his attached garage.
On Jan. 6, 2024, while being on release conditions not to have any weapons or have any contact with her mother, her mother called police and said her daughter was in her backyard. When police arrived, Many Shots was lying on her mother’s lawn, and while searching her backpack police found a knife.
Lethbridge lawyer Darcy Shurtz pointed out Many Shots, who began using drugs when she was 17 years old, has been sober for 70 days, is doing better, and wants to receive counselling and treatment for her addiction to fentanyl.
“I’ve been waiting to be sober,” Many Shots told the judge. “I’ve sobered up, finally.” 3
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