Two accused in separate Calgary incidents have violent history

Two people accused in separate deadly Calgary incidents in recent weeks have a violent history.

Cory Carl Szabo, accused of killing an innocent man in the southeast community of Inglewood more than a week ago, was on release from charges in British Columbia. He was also charged with assaulting a man at St. Mary’s University in 2020.

Michael Tyrel Arnold, accused of gunning down Nikita Baron and hospitalizing her partner in a brazen shooting in the southwest community of Evergreen, was charged with assault and weapons charges just weeks before.

Arnold was also previously charged with murder in 2019 but those charges were stayed.

Dr. Ritesh Narayan, a criminologist at Mount Royal University, says violent criminals sometimes fall through the cracks of the legal system.

“Sadly what we have now in this province is a legal system, not a justice system,” Narayan said. “It’s not about finding justice. Now it’s about processing the case from the time a person is charged all the way to disposition.”

Narayan says the legal system in the province is underfunded, from defence lawyers, to prosecutors, to corrections.

“We’re not seeing prosecutors really coming down on these offenders and ask for mandatory minimum sentencing, we’re not seeing these offenders getting longer sentences and therefore they’re back into the community,” Narayan explained.

Staff-Sgt. Martin Schiavetta with Calgary police previously said at a news conference that it’s frustrating when violent offenders are not kept in jail.

“The police service has a responsibility for public safety, and it is very difficult to ensure public safety when violent offenders are placed back on the street,” Schiavetta said.

The Alberta government says it has made “substantial investments” in the justice system.

“To help ensure our justice system runs efficiently and works effectively for Albertans, we invested heavily in the courts and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service. We increased funding for all three levels of court this spring in Budget 2022, to ensure the courts have the resources they need to deal with serious criminal matters in a timely way and improve access to justice for Albertans with civil and family matters,” a statement from the Justice Minister’s office reads.

READ MORE:

• B.C. man killed in Calgary stabbing, family shocked and in mourning

• Man charged for murder in Evergreen shooting

• Alberta RCMP helping with Saskatchewan mass stabbing investigation

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The Province increased funding for the Provincial court by 7 per cent ($7.2 million), Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench by 17 per cent ($5.2 million), and Alberta Court of Appeal by 8 per cent ($550,000). The government also hired 50 new prosecutors, as well as support staff to bolster the criminal justice system, increasing “the number of articling students from eight to 20 to help recruit lawyers who will ultimately work as Crown prosecutors.”

The government acknowledged the strain on the legal system in Alberta and says the Crown prosecution service is working on “a pre-charge assessment system” to try and alleviate pressure.

“It should be noted that who is granted bail, who is remanded, what sentence a person receives, and who is released on probation (when, where, and under what conditions (if any), are all decisions made by the courts, independent of Crown prosecutors or the government.

“The courts make these decisions based on the Criminal Code (legislation that falls under federal jurisdiction), which stipulates when to grant bail and under what conditions. Probation officers supervise/monitor those under court ordered community supervision and conditional release,” the Justice Minister’s office says in a statement.