A sentencing hearing for Andrew Christal will take place in October regarding his role in the fatal stabbing of a Calgary Uber near the Springbank Airport on Dec. 29, 2019.
Christal was initially charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Kasif Hirani. Christal was instead convicted of manslaughter by a 12-person jury assigned to the April trial.
Jurors ruled that Christal was unaware that the Uber driver would be killed or robbed, reducing his charge.
On July 22, Crown prosecutor Vince Pingatore and defense lawyer Jim Lutz appeared before Justice John MacCarthy in Court of Queen's Bench to set a one-day hearing to determine an appropriate sentence for the Calgary-area man.
In court, Christal testified he didn't know Hirani prior to the attack and that he was unaware the man would be forced into the back seat of his own vehicle outside of a Calgary residence, where Christal was meeting with co-accused childhood friend Trista Tinkler and her then-boyfriend, Robert Daignault.
The vehicle was driven to a remote area west of the city where Hirani was stabbed to death after being robbed of his banking information.
Christal testified that he did not take part in the stabbing. He told the court that Daignault was driving the vehicle and that he had become angry with Hirani after the Uber driver threatened to send someone after them for robbing him.
He said Daignault proceeded to stop the car and pull Hirani from the back seat, where Daignault began stabbing him.
Christal admitted during a police interrogation that he held Hirani while Daignault stabbed him, making him an accomplice in the murder, Pingitore argued to jurors.
Christal also claimed to have only steadied the victim while Daignault roughed him up before the stabbing, his defense counsel contended. Throughout his trial, Christal also claimed to be fearful of Daignault.
Tinkler was handed a six-year manslaughter sentence in February for her connection in the killing.
Daignault is set to appear in court in January of next year after his trial was derailed by COVID-19 early this year.
