Joe-Anna Hachey sentenced to 7 years in prison for role in Fredericton man's death
Joe-Anna Hachey has been sentenced to seven years in prison, with credit for time served, for manslaughter in the death of Bobby Martin Jr. of Fredericton.
Martin, 34, died on Jan. 26, 2017, after being shot twice at a mobile home outside Fredericton.
Hachey and Evan Polchies were both originally charged with second-degree murder, but Hachey pleaded guilty in March to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Statement of facts
According to an agreed upon statement of facts, Hachey and Polchies were doing drugs and drinking at the Lincoln home of friends last year.
When they ran out of cocaine, Hachey lured Martin to the home, telling him they wanted to buy drugs. The couple's plan, however, was to rob him.
According to Hachey, before Martin arrived, Polchies told her he would use the loaded gun to scare him and shoot him if he had to.
Shortly after Martin arrived, Polchies shot him twice with a high-powered rifle. Martin later died in hospital.
Polchies left the home with the rifle, and Hachey cleaned up the blood inside the doorway, the statement said.
The pair, from the Fredericton area, went on the run until they were arrested Jan. 29, 2017. They had consumed the drugs Martin had brought to Hachey.
'Set in motion chain of events'
In pronouncing the sentence, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Darrell Stephenson said pleading guilty weighed in Hachey's favour.
He said he also considered the fact that she wasn't directly involved in the shooting, had no 'material' criminal record, had a troubled upbringing, and is young enough to possibly turn her life around.
What weighed against her, Stephenson said, is that she "set in motion the chain of events" that led to Martin's death.
He pointed out that Hachey was the one who chose to target Martin for robbery, that she made contact with him to buy cocaine and persuaded him to enter the mobile home, knowing Evan Polchies had a high-powered rifle and was willing to use it.
Because Stephenson determined Hachey should get credit for the time she's already spent in custody, she will serve a maximum of five years in prison at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro, N.S.
She can also apply for parole in 17 months.
Polchies is scheduled to be retried on Sept. 10. A jury couldn't reach a verdict at his first trial.
He is also facing charges of intimidation of Hachey.
Not harsh enough
Outside the courthouse, Martin's friend Joanne Barlow said she didn't feel the sentence was harsh enough.
"I think it's a life for a life, and I think she had a lot more to do with it than she was held accountable for," she said.
Barlow said she had known Martin since he was a child, and it shouldn't matter that he dealt drugs.
"I don't think it should matter if you're a cop, judge, lawyer, anybody," she said. "Nobody deserves to be gunned down like that, right?
"Justice needed to be served. I just think it should have been more, but hopefully, you know, it changes her life."
Correction : A previous version of this story said the judge's name was Claude Arthur. The judge presiding over the hearing was in fact Darrell Stephenson. (May 25, 2018 5:21 PM)
