Court mulls complex sentencing

A multi-day sentencing hearing began Monday for a man convicted of attempting to sell stolen firearms through accomplices while he was in custody at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.

In January, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown found Jamie Hal Hammerstrom, 37, guilty of 22 offences as the result of a failed scheme to raise money for bail after he was arrested on separate charges another justice eventually dismissed.

Hammerstrom now faces significant jail time and his lawyer Tony Zipp has made three of applications aimed at reducing the penalty.

They include a so-called Askov application to put an end to any further time behind bars on the basis the case took too long to bring to trial and a constitutional challenge against the "mandatory minimum" jail time Hammerstrom faces as a result of being found guilty on firearms-related charges.

Zipp is also seeking "enhanced extra credit" for the time Hammerstrom has so far spent in custody, arguing he deserves more than one-and-a-half days for every day served because he was assaulted twice while in custody and was unfairly disciplined for the incidents.

In answer, two Crown prosecutors have been assigned to argue different aspects of the case.

Brown is also hearing submissions on sentencing and the hearing at the Prince George courthouse is expected to last at least a week.

Hammerstrom was arrested on Dec. 23, 2011 on suspicion of fleeing police in a stolen pickup truck earlier the same day, but a year later was found not guilty after the Crown was unable to prove the driver's identity beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, shortly after Hammerstrom's arrest on those charges, police received a tip that he ordered his two housemates to sell his guns to raise bail money. In early January, police executed a search warrant and seized five rifles and two shotguns from the home. They also obtained recordings of phone conversations involving Hammerstrom while he was in jail.

Over the course of a five-week trial, Brown heard 14 recordings and on Thursday concluded references made by those involved to "wooden things," "shorts," "long things," "long pants" and "toys" were code words for the guns.