Tonight Former Coast Guard Officer, Keyren Tzib, will be spending the first of her five year sentence behind bars. The judge handed down her judgment this morning in court - ending a long ordeal that started in 2015. Tzib's attorneys, Arthur Saldivar and Darrell Bradley were hoping for a non-custodial sentence, but several factors were taken into consideration before the sentencing was given. After court, Saldivar explained more.
Arthur Saldivar, Attorney
"The offense for which Ms Tzib had been charged was attempted murder and in our jurisdiction, the range of sentences have been from 8 to 15 years, so one would appreciate that there was a significant reduction, although it was urged on the court that a non-custodial sentence would have been most appropriate, we did not get that but we got a significant reduction from the 8 to 4 years, ten months. What was taking into consideration in respect to that was the mental state of the offender, the fact that she was not previous convicted, was a person of good character, and it was also take into consideration the fact that there was a considerable delay, this offense took place in 2015, the trial happened some 9 years later, in 2024, but there were also matters that I think should have been taken in consideration and we'll be addressing that on appeal."
"She was already suffering from the trauma, being violated in that way so one could imagine suffering serious mental illness as a result of being violated by a person in the most horrible way a woman can be violated and that person, the violator being in possession of a weapon also, that would have caused an already impaired mind to react so my heart goes out because I have a mother, I have sisters, and certainly I can understand a person in her position not being in control of her full faculties because of the trauma she experienced, reacting the way she did, it's a survival situation, literally caught between the devil and the deep blue sea."
Saldivar says they will be appealing both the conviction and the sentencing.
Tzib was first arrested back in 2015 after she shot fellow officer Kurt Hyde in the back of the head in front of several other officers while they were onboard a vessel. As Saldivar mentioned, Tzib had accused Hyde of assaulting her. In a separate incident in 2015, Tzib was accused of killing her common law and charged with manslaughter.
