Machete manslaughter worth one more day in jail

A man who was once facing life in prison was handed an early departure on Friday.

Ricky John Smith, who was convicted in the October 2004 death of Brent Melanson, was sentenced to one day in jail and two years probation along with a mandatory 10-year firearms prohibition.

Last year, a B.C. Supreme Court Justice reduced Smith's conviction of second degree murder to manslaughter. His original conviction, handed down in 2006, carried a sentence of life without chance of parole for 13 years. His co-accused, Cameron Alexander Miller, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to four years in jail.

In May 2011, Justice Kathleen Ker found there was reasonable doubt that Smith struck the fatal blow against Melanson with a machete after an altercation in the parking lot of the Third Avenue Dairy Queen.

This followed a retrial after the B.C. Court of Appeal found the original trial judge "unfairly and inaccurately" summarized key evidence from one of the forensic pathologists when giving instructions to the jury.

Ker also dismissed Crown prosecution's argument Smith had intended to kill Melanson, a key aspect in finding a person guilty of murder.