Convicted killer showed improvement while incarcerated for first-degree murder of Windsor, Ont. cab driver, parole officer testifies
Thualfikar Alattiya, 41, was stabbed to death in November 2004.
In December 2007, Ali Al-Shammari, then 22, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for his role in Alattiya's death.
Al-Shammari — who is now 38 years old — isn’t eligible to apply for parole until 2029 but his lawyers are asking to have that reduced in what’s known as a 'faint hope hearing' before a Windsor-Essex jury.
The jury will not decide if Al-Shammari can be released but rather whether or he can apply for parole sooner.
In her second day on the stand, parole officer Shona Donovan testified for Al-Shammari’s lawyers.
Christopher Hicks walked her through the lengthy parole eligibility summary report prepared for the hearing.
The pros
Although described in the beginning as “argumentative” in his prison programming, Al-Shammari showed continual improvement in his ratings in the federal system, according to Donovan.
Starting in 2009 and up to today, Al-Shammari has applied for and maintained employment in all of the prisons he has been housed in.
He continues to work on his education, is taking college courses and hopes to enter the trades when he is released.
Al-Shammari, according to Donovan, wants to start his own flooring and carpentry business.
He has maintained a relationship with his parents, in spite of being incarcerated for a time out west.
Donovan told the jury Al-Shammari has earned the right to have escorted temporary absences (ETA) from the prison in Gravenhurst, Ont. to visit his family in Windsor.
Al-Shammari is currently waiting for a Parole Board hearing to volunteer in the community with an ETA.
Most notably, Donovan told the jury Al-Shammari has been deemed unlikely to reoffend if granted parole through a complicated calculation known as a 'statistical information on recidivism.'
Al-Shammari scored a 14+ out of 15.
Put another way, the court heard Al-Shammari falls into a category that predicts four out of five former inmates will not commit an indictable offence upon release.
The cons
Assistant Crown Attorney George Spartinos highlighted areas of the report Al-Shammari’s lawyers did not.
He said when Al-Shammari was first arrested and until he was convicted, he was incarcerated in the provincial jail system in Windsor and Sarnia.
Between 2004 and 2007 Al-Shammari had 10 misconducts on his provincial file, including disruptive behaviour, being aggressive to staff, having contraband in his possession, threatening staff and fighting with an inmate.
Donovan said if the contraband had been something serious like a weapon or drugs, it would have been labelled a more serious charge.
Once in the federal system, between 2007 to present, Al-Shammari has six institutional charges including refusing to lock-up at night, taking sugar from the kitchen, leaving his employment without permission and being in a range or unit that was not his own.
Donovan said to Spartinos she did not ask Al-Shammari about his actions in November 2004 that landed him in prison.
She added it was outside her responsibilities in writing the parole eligibility summary report for this hearing.
The hearing will continue Thursday.
Correction
Correction: CTV News has since learned 14+ isn’t the highest SIR an inmate can receive.
Correction: The correct spelling is Alattiya, not Alantiyya.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
'What have we done?' Lawyer describes shock at possible role in Trump's 2016 victory
A lawyer who negotiated a pair of hush money deals at the centre of Donald Trump's criminal trial recalled Thursday his "gallows humor" reaction to Trump's 2016 election victory and the realization that his hidden-hand efforts might have contributed to the win.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Universities grapple with the complicated politics of campus encampments
Montreal police are facing pressure to move in and dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University campus on Thursday, as a growing number of universities across this country grapple with the tough decision of how to handle the protests.
Police order B.C. woman who praised Hamas not to protest for 5 months, says her group
A pro-Palestinian activist group says its international co-ordinator, who was arrested in a Vancouver hate-crime investigation, was released with an order not to attend any protests for the next five months.
Conservative MP says Chinese hacking attack targeted his personal email
A Conservative MP is challenging claims by House of Commons administration that a China-backed hacking attempt did not impact any members of Parliament, because the attack was on his personal email.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.