Canadian Court Reduces Sentence for Assault to Avoid Deportation

The Quebec Court of Appeal has reduced the sentence for Macdala Monfiston, who was convicted of aggravated assault for a brutal attack outside a Laval bar in December 2022. The appeals judges stated that the initial four-year prison sentence handed down by a lower court did not adequately consider the potential deportation of Monfiston, a permanent resident of Canada, and the impact on her five dependent children.

Monfiston, then 37, pleaded guilty in 2025 to the charge stemming from an incident where she bit a stranger's forehead, leaving the victim with a permanent scar. The initial sentence was four years, but the appellate court reduced it to two years less a day of conditional imprisonment, to be served in the community. The first 18 months will be under house arrest, followed by approximately six months under a nighttime curfew.

In their ruling, the appeals justices, Geneviève Marcotte, Suzanne Gagné, and Christine Baudouin, stated that the lower court judge failed to address the collateral immigration consequences Monfiston faced, as well as the repercussions a significant prison term would have on her children. Canadian legal precedent requires judges to consider such immigration-related consequences when sentencing.

Monfiston, born to Haitian parents, moved to Montreal from the U.S. at age two and has never obtained Canadian citizenship. The court noted that the sentence would have a greater impact on her than on other offenders. The victim of the attack, who requested anonymity, described fearing for her life during the assault and experiencing relief when Monfiston was initially incarcerated. She continues to live with the fear of encountering her attacker again.

Footage of the attack showed Monfiston repeatedly kicking and punching the victim before biting her face as bystanders attempted to intervene. The victim reported that people were shocked to learn she was bitten by another person rather than an animal. Court records indicate Monfiston has prior convictions for theft, obstructing police, and drug possession, and her upbringing was described as being in a "dysfunctional, deprived and violent" family environment.