MANDEL: Journalism student's killer sentenced to less than 4 more years in prison
James Galinato sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter, but with credit has 44 months to serve
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Out walking on a Saturday night in January 2022, two groups of young men converged by chance outside St. Paul’s Church on Bloor St. E.
Within a few minutes, a physical fight between them ended with 20-year-old Ryerson journalism student Olivier “Oli” Dundas dead on the sidewalk from a gunshot wound to the back.
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On Wednesday, Superior Court Justice Philip Campbell sentenced construction worker James Galinato to 10 years in prison for manslaughter in the killing of a young man who dreamed of becoming a hockey journalist. But with credit for pre-sentence custody, “harsh” lockdown conditions and deportation consequences, he has just three years and eight months remaining.
And then, almost certainly, the permanent resident will be sent back to the Philippines. But he has no one to blame but himself.
“Mr. Galinato did not intend to use a gun, but he evinced the most dangerous characteristics and conduct of an armed man, on a public street, determined to demonstrate his manhood or, at least, to brook no disrespect.
“In the end, Mr. Galinato pulled the gun and fired the gun, following his earlier choices to acquire the gun, load the gun, carry the gun outside and approach, and then follow, a group of strangers with the gun in his pocket.”
They were just kids shooting a rap video.
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Dundas and Ayden Dafoe were helping buddy Reilly Flagler record at different locations downtown when they were approached by Galinato and his friends, Jay-Ar Carbonel and Jessie Biag, near Bloor and Church St.
The jury heard that Galinato, 22 at the time, was drunk and aggressive as he demanded a cigarette, which Dundas gave him, blew smoke in Dafoe’s face and said, “We want smoke,” which Dafoe took to mean “trouble.” Dundas and his friends started to walk away, but Galinato followed with his hand in his pocket.
Dafoe tackled him to the ground, punching him and putting him in a choke-hold. Like the jury, the judge rejected Galinato’s arguments of provocation or self-defence.
“There was a gun in Mr. Galinato’s pocket, likely in his grip, and Mr. Dafoe rightly thought that this constituted an imminent threat. Mr. Galinato pressed ahead in an encounter he had been given a clear chance to stop, with no violence or risk of violence,” Campbell said.
“Mr. Galinato’s ‘role in the incident’ was unwise, unlawful, and aggressive until the conflict he had precipitated placed him in a situation which he resolved with a gunshot.”
Yet he believed Galinato didn’t intend to kill anyone, let alone Dundas, who wasn’t part of the altercation, and agreed with the jury’s verdict to acquit him of murder.
While all were originally charged with second-degree murder, Biag’s charge was dismissed following a preliminary hearing; Carbonel’s murder charge was reduced to manslaughter during the trial and he was then acquitted by the jury.
Leaving only Galinato responsible for killing an innocent young man.
“He had everything he needed to live a happy and successful life – a warm and decent character; wide interests, both intellectual and athletic; intelligence, kindness and loyalty to his friends; a loving family. It was all gone in a second of folly,” the judge said.
“But if the outpouring of grief and affection in the courtroom is any indication – and I am sure it is – Olivier Dundas will not be forgotten.”
In a poignant moment, the judge told the Dundas family how their outpouring of grief had affected him.
“I’ve been a student, a lawyer and a judge in this building since 1982 and I do not think I have had as memorable and moving a day,” Campbell said, his voice wavering. “Olivier will stay with me.”
He called it a “case soaked in tragedy in so many ways.”
Galinato came to Canada to be reunited with his mom, who left home to work here as a nanny, only for her to suffer a brain aneurysm before his arrival and never regain consciousness. Now his own child faces separation from him — first in prison, then in exile.
“Mr. Galinato, please stand,” Campbell concluded. “I hope you eventually are able to build a life for yourself. It will be hard. I know it will be a better life if you never forget what you did and the young man to whom you did it.”
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