Canada Case Law

R. v. Lee

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed second degree murder (actus reus) and, on the balance of probabilities, that he was suffering from untreated schizophrenia and persistent delusions at the time, which rendered him incapable of knowing that his actions were morally wrong; accordingly the accused committed the act but is not criminally responsible under s.672.34 of the Criminal Code, and the matter is referred to the Review Board with orders for detention at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, expedited disclosure to the Review Board, a disposition hearing with…

Source excerpt

• Not criminally responsible (ncrmd)
• Second degree murder
• Disposition hearing
• Dna order
• Schizophrenia and delusions

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R. v. Kueth

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Offender convicted of aggravated assault which qualifies as a serious personal injury offence and the Crown's evidentiary record (recent pattern of unprovoked knife attacks aimed at victims' necks, temporal clustering of offences after release, prior robberies with imitation firearm, long history of convictions and breaches, substance addiction, prior psychiatric opinion of moderate-to-high risk, and in-custody violence and drug use) gives reasonable grounds to believe the offender might be found a dangerous offender under ss.753(1)(a)(i) and (ii); accordingly s.752.1(1) preconditions are met…

Source excerpt

• Section 752.1 criminal code
• Dangerous offender designation
• Long-term offender
• Remand for expert assessment
• Aggravated assault

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R. v. Marriott

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

The Court concluded the trial judge correctly applied the law, made fact findings amply supported by the record, permissibly admitted and relied on the Crown's expert and institutional evidence, reasonably found a pattern of repetitive and persistent violent behaviour and intractability (unable to surmount), and reasonably imposed an indeterminate sentence because there was no evidence of meaningful treatment within an ascertainable timeframe to protect the public; the appeal was dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Dangerous offender designation
• Intractability (unable to surmount)
• Pattern of violent behaviour
• Admissibility of institutional hearsay/business records
• Expert witness admissibility and weight
• Indeterminate detention vs determinate sentence

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Knight (Re)

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal admitted fresh psychiatric evidence, allowed the appeal, and substituted an absolute discharge for Amy Knight’s conditional discharge.

• Fresh evidence admissibility
• Absolute discharge
• Conditional discharge
• Ncrmd dispositions
• Risk assessment
• Hcr-20

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Hamblett (Re)

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed an NCRMD appeal and held it was unreasonable to refuse an independent assessment after two decades of near-continuous seclusion.

• Ncrmd disposition and continued detention
• Independent psychiatric assessment
• Treatment impasse vs difficult-to-treat
• Seclusion and conditions of detention
• Medication assessment program (maps) referral
• Pharmacogenetic testing

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Cole (Re)

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal upheld a Secure Unit disposition and the electronics supervision clause, but reinstated omitted privilege clauses in one part of the appeal.

• Not criminally responsible (ncr)
• Review board dispositions
• Least onerous and least restrictive disposition
• Detention in secure unit
• Electronics supervision clause
• Hospital privileges and passes

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R. v. Donnelly

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Supreme Court of British Columbia found Blair Evan Donnelly not criminally responsible for three 2023 Vancouver assaults, accepting that a psychotic delusion overbore his ability to know the acts were morally wrong.

• Not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder
• Insanity defence
• Section 16 criminal code - morally wrong branch
• Delusions and compulsion
• Referral to review board disposition
• Not-criminally-responsible

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Tsai v. British Columbia (Adult Forensic Psychiatric Services)

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal dismissed Ms. Tsai’s appeal from a Review Board disposition, holding the Board reasonably found she remained a significant threat to public safety.

• Not criminally responsible (ncr)
• Conditional discharge
• Significant threat to public safety
• Standard of review (unreasonableness)
• Miscarriage of justice
• Risk assessment and management

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Wheeler (Re)

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Board’s November 20, 2024 disposition was unreasonable because it failed to explain how the appellant’s continued cannabis use would create a substantial risk of serious harm to the public on the evidence as a whole and failed to meaningfully consider the least onerous and restrictive disposition; accordingly the appeal is allowed and a new hearing before a differently constituted panel is ordered.

Source excerpt

• Not criminally responsible
• Detention order
• Conditional discharge
• Absolute discharge
• Significant threat to public safety
• Cannabis use and risk

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R. v. McCrae

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court rejected NCRMD, found the accused criminally responsible, convicted him on aggravated assault, disarming a peace officer, and obstruction, and dismissed attempted murder and weapons-possession charges.

• Not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder (ncrmd)
• Mens rea
• Actus reus
• Attempted murder
• Aggravated assault
• Disarming a peace officer

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