A second proposal that was made involves Li being permitted to take 30-minute excursions away from the hospital within Selkirk, provided he is accompanied at all times by a peace officer and a nurse. His doctors say those passes can be extended by up to 15 minutes per week, provided there are no incidents and he continues to make great strides.

Within the request to the Board, there is no indication that the community would be made aware of Li’s presence in their neighborhood. In fact, his doctors suggested the accompanying peace officers should be allowed to wear plain clothes to avoid drawing extra attention to Li.

Carol de Delley, Tim McLean’s mother, disagrees. She believes that Li is “a very unpredictably dangerous person.” Carol has given numerous media interviews in an attempt to heighten the awareness of the issues surrounding Vincent Li. While she is not concerned about security and surveillance while Li is in the care of the hospital, De Delley does question his activities outside of confinement. “What happens when he’s not in care anymore?”

The answer to this question has not been forthcoming. At the Hearing, the Crown did not raise any opposition to the proposals. Why would she? Li was described as having a “low risk of reoffending” and described as a “nice gentle guy”. Ironically, however, Li sat quietly through the Hearing in leg irons. On face value, it would appear that the members of the board only trust him in the Selkirk neighborhood.

Unfortunately, it is expected that Vincent Li will be given more freedom in the days to come. The Board is expected to render their decision shortly.

Signing the petition for Tim’s Law is showing support for a dialogue that weighs the rights of all sides of this discussion.

Related posts:

1. Review Board: Vincent Li to be detained in custody… For Now
2. Vincent Li Review Board Hearing on May 31, 2010
3. Annual Review of Manitoba Criminal Review Board / Vincent Li 2011
4. Vincent Li granted supervised hospital grounds pass… Review Board Rules
5. Vincent Li Review Board Hearing…Carol de Delley Comments

Sajid, who never testified in the case, was remanded into custody and will appear before a review board in the coming months.
“To a large extent the indicia of knowledge of moral wrong come from after-the-fact comments he made,” said the judge. “These do not contradict that there was an explosion in his mind that occurred at the time of the killing. They are of less significance in the assessment of knowledge of wrong than the overall reality that he was clearly suffering from a major mental illness. The act was entirely unmotivated and out of character, his victim was part of his persecutory delusion, and his illness in all likelihood prevented him from knowing that his actions were morally wrong.”

Sajid, a tenant living in the basement of the victim’s Warwickshire Way home, attacked and killed Siddiqi, 45, a married father of three, back on June 10, 2009, while he was repairing a window because Sajid didn’t like the way he looked at him. Court heard that Sajid, 25, delivered two stab wounds that killed Siddiqi.

The judge admitted she was struggling with certain aspects of the case, as there’s evidence in Sajid’s police interrogation interview, introduced as evidence by the Crown, that the accused knew what he was doing was “morally wrong. The fact that Sajid took and hid a knife on his person before the attack demonstrated some level of pre-planning that diminishes the strength of the argument that he did not have the capacity at the time of the event to know that it was morally wrong.

“It can never be known with precision what was in a person’s mind at the precise time of the offence. He is clearly a danger to society either way,” Justice Wein said.

Dr. Julian Gojer’s and Dr. Philip Klassen provided the expert testimony.

Facts of case originally reported by Mississauga.com

Related posts:

1. Sackville Teen not criminally responsible for murder.. family sought help prior
2. Getting Away With Murder

The patient (Andre Denny) was subsequently charged in a homicide (of Raymond Taavel). The joint review will be led by the deputy ministers of Health and Wellness and Justice and the CEO of CDHA.

The review will determine whether all relevant policies and procedures were followed and whether they were adequate. Denny was a patient at the hospital since January after being found not criminally responsible for an assault charge. He left the hospital on a one-hour leave at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night and didn’t return.

Aileen Brunet, clinical director of the East Coast Forensic Hospital, has been quoted as stating  that the unit has a 60-bed capacity and is currently three-quarters full. “And the vast majority of those individuals have some access to the community every day varying between an hour or two and back, all the way up to spending several days and nights out of the hospital.”

“Our decision-making process involves consideration of the person’s risk, their mental state, their compliance with the team and behaviour in hospital,” she said. Usually at first patients are escorted out on passes.

“It’s an opportunity for them to get some fresh air, and be able to go off hospital grounds to have a cigarette.” Occasionally some are late but it’s rare they don’t show up at all, Brunet said. If they do, they’re generally back within 24 hours, she said.

Brunet said it appears policy was followed in this case.

A progress update will be provided in 30 days. More on the history that prompted the review can be found here
Media Contacts: Sherri Aikenhead:  Health and Wellness, 902-424-7942,E-mail: Sherri.Aikenhead@gov.ns.ca

Tara Walsh   Department of Justice 902-424-6282 E-mail: walsht@gov.ns.ca
John Gillis Capital District Health Authority Pager: 902-458-5376  E-mail:johnw.gillis@cdha.nshealth.ca

On CBC Radio, Dr. Scott Theriault, clinical director, Department of Psychiatry for Capital Health answers questions about un-escorted leave for mental patients.  Audio: Questions about un-escorted leave for mental patients

Related posts:

1. Raymond Taavel is dead. Ignoring those responsible doesn’t make them any less responsible.
2. Annual Review of Manitoba Criminal Review Board / Vincent Li 2011
3. Vincent Li granted supervised hospital grounds pass… Review Board Rules

In September 2009, court papers reveal Denny was charged with causing “unnecessary injury” to a dog, possession of stolen property (the dog), uttering a death threat to his neighbors and breach of probation. Denny’s court testimony in relation to those charges was often “sprinkled with delusions,” a judge wrote in court papers in October 2009.

Andre Noel Denny was also arrested after a seven-hour standoff at Membertou in 2011. That time he was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a woman, uttering threats and unlawfully confining her.

The extent of Denny’s mental illness was outlined in court proceedings related to the September 2009 crimes at Eskasoni.

Dr. Foley of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital  conducted preliminary assessment shortly after arrest. Dr. Foley believed Mr. Denny to be “grossly psychotic” at that time. Dr. Kronfli saw Mr. Denny just days afterwards and, with the benefit of this clinical history and his own observations and assessment, concluded that Mr. Denny was not criminally responsible for what he had done.

The psychiatrist later found his condition had improved after treatment at the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth. By the late fall of 2009, it was determined he was fit to stand trial but was found not criminally responsible.  At this hearing the defense argued that the defendant was in control of his senses while the crown held that Denny should be found NCR and committed.

Judge Peter Ross described a gruesome threat Denny had made to his Eskasoni neighbors. Denny had been living next to them in a trailer for about a month. “He said he was going to ‘slice everyone’s throat’ when they were sleeping,” Denny also stole a three-month-old puppy and slit its throat. The dog was so badly injured that it had to be euthanized, court documents show. Denny told his doctor it was a “devil’s dog” and deemed his actions “part of my delusion,” the court papers said. Denny also testified that these statements were intended to manipulate his doctor  in order to secure medicine.

When a police officer saw him in Eskasoni on Sept. 2, she was concerned about his appearance as he was wearing gloves, a heavy jacket and a scarf across his face even though it was warm enough to wear shorts. “His presentation caused her such concern she put out a warning to other members who might come in contact with him,” the documents said.

According to other court documents, Denny also faced charges of resisting arrest and breaching an undertaking on Feb. 14, 2009. He was found responsible for this earlier incident.

Now Raymond Taavel’s life  has been cut short at the hands of Andre Noel Denny.  Whether or not Denny is again found Not Criminally Responsible for murdering Raymond is yet to be determined.  But Denny was not some unknown assailant walking the streets.  Denny was known to police, the courts, the mental health establishment… Denny was in their care and they were responsible to keep him from us!

So while the judicial system will ignore those responsible for this travesty, it does not make them any less responsible. We need a Tim’s Law for Tim. But we also need Tim’s Law for Raymond Taavel.

Much of this story and the research found in the content came from the dedicated staff at the Chronicle Herald in Halifax. The Chronicle Herald continues to provide updated coverage of the Raymond Taavel murder. The original story and details 

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During a hearing Sorella’s lawyer Pierre Poupart informed Justice André Vincent that he could not provide an estimate on when her psychiatric evaluation will be ready. Poupart, the lawyer who represented Guy Turcotte in a trial last year where the doctor was found not criminally responsible of killing his son and daughter, said he expected to be ready for a trial early in 2013.

Sorella was arrested April 1, 2009, after Laval police found the bodies of her two daughters, Sabrina, 8, and Amanda, 9, inside the family’s home in Laval’s Duvernay district.

Vincent said not having an evaluation on-hand complicated setting a trial schedule for this year because the prosecution might seek a second opinion after it is completed. “I can set a trial date today but if I do set aside six to eight weeks it could be for nothing. It could prevent other people from having trials (later this year),” Vincent said.

Sounding impatient, prosecutor Isabelle Briand noted that Sorella, who is out on bail, was arrested three years ago and the Crown has been ready to proceed with a trial since September 2011. She said the prosecution plans to present 25 witnesses in all.

Poupart also succeeded in having one of Sorella’s bail conditions changed to allow her to travel outside of Quebec. Poupart said the change was necessary to allow her to be evaluated by a psychiatrist based in Ontario.

Vincent set April 1, 2013 as the start of Sorella’s trial. This is ridiculous and makes a mockery of justice!

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Bouchard-Lebrun pushed a man down some stairs, and stomped on his head several times. Bouchard-Lebrun argued that he had an underlying mental disorder that was triggered by the drug use, and therefore should be found not criminally responsible for the attack. A Quebec court found that whatever psychosis gripped Bouchard-Lebrun during the incident, it was “self-induced intoxication” and could not be used as an excuse for his actions.

On appeal, Bouchard-Lebrun argued the “self-induced intoxication” amounted to a “mental disorder” under the Criminal Code, but the Quebec Court of Appeal rejected his argument. It said in its 2010 ruling that the defense of mental disorder was not available to an accused suffering from psychosis induced by drug use in circumstances similar to those in Bouchard-Lebrun’s case.

Now the Supreme Court has dismissed the argument, saying Bouchard-Lebrun could not establish that he was suffering from an underlying mental disorder, since he returned to normal once the effects of the drugs ran their course. The court concluded:

“A malfunctioning of the mind that results exclusively from self-induced intoxication cannot be considered a disease of the mind in the legal sense, since it is not a product of the individual’s inherent psychological makeup,”

If everyone who committed a violent offense while in a toxic psychosis was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder, the judge said the scope of the defense would be too broad.

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For the second time in a little over a year a murder has occurred at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital, a maximum security facility for the criminally insane located in Jessup Maryland.

Twenty four year old Vitaly Davydov from Montgomery County has been charged with murder in the beating death of his roommate 22 year old David Rico-Noyola from Anne Arundel County. Vitaly who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder had been at the facility ever since he fatally beat his psychiatrist in his Bethesda office in September of 2006.

In 2007 Vitally was found not criminally responsible for the killing because of severe mental illness and was ordered to the hospital until he was determined to no longer be a threat to anyone.

David had been at the hospital since August of 2008 after the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene labeled him incompetent to stand trial for the beating death of his mother 48 year old Ofelia Noyola – Monrroy. He had been scheduled for another competency hearing next month.

This story may have happened in America but it is still a stark reminder of the challenges faced when treating persons with severe cases of mental illness. Some may argue that treatment methods vary between facilities and the severity of the mental illness can differ greatly between individuals. Valid point in some cases maybe.

It would be interesting to have a dialogue with individuals dealing with the mental health community. Hearing their concerns, and comments in regards to areas that are lacking in the Canadian Mental Health establishment is a place to start.

Related posts:

1. Vincent Li granted supervised hospital grounds pass… Review Board Rules
2. “One Day at a Time.” says Carol DeDelley
3. Etienne Beaulieu was treated in hospital just days before he killed his mother

The agreed statement of facts that was presented to the court. The Crown is not contesting any of the evidence:

-The Court heard Beaulieu’s family had been concerned about the Etienne deteriorating mental health for months.

-Beaulieu was seeing a psychiatrist and spent a few days in the hospital at the end of July, just days before he attacked his mother.

-On Aug. 4, 2010, Beaulieu was home alone with his mother at their Bissonnette St. home. Beaulieu hit his mother twice over the head with a baseball bat, then dragged her down a set of stairs. Etienne Beaulieu stabbed his mother in the neck and the stomach.

-The rest of Beaulieu’s family, his father and sister, returned to the house at 6 p.m. and discovered the horrific scene.

-Robitaille, a French immersion teacher at Prince of Wales Public School, died of her injuries at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

Local press has stated ”Beaulieu’s defense team has argued his mental illness was so severe he could not comprehend the repercussions of his act.”

The outcome of this hearing is a foregone conclusion. Decided long before the judge hands down the decision she is bound to deliver, Etienne Beaulieu will be found “not criminally responsible” in the killing his mother.

Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, a psychiatrist who examined Beaulieu in May, testified that Beaulieu was suffering from intense and aggravating delusions that day, and in his deteriorating mental state, Beaulieu believed another person was trapped inside the body he saw in front of him. Chaimowitz also testified Beaulieu had a “major psychiatric disorder”, but didn’t offer a formal diagnosis to the court. He testified Beaulieu could be suffering from schizophrenia. His symptoms included paranoid and bizarre delusions including the illusion that he was being persecuted.

The psychiatrist believed Beaulieu had suffered from these delusions for years before the attack. That Beaulieu was unable to distinguish right from wrong that day. “His disorder was so intense, so active, he could not appreciate the consequences of his actions,” Chaimowitz testified.

Chaimowitz testified that although Beaulieu’s state has improved since arrest, and he continues to improve each day, he does still pose a risk to the community. Chaimowitz then adds the risk could be managed with treatment, hospitalization and supervision.

As has been so often in the past, the only argument clearly heard in the Whitby courtroom is that a family struggling with the effects of mental illness sought help. And as so often is the case, it is only after disaster has struck, and life has been forever altered, that a psychiatric community offers a message of hope. “The risk can be managed with treatment” they say.

If that is true, then what types of intervention and care should have been implemented before August 4, 2010. Society needs to question why treatments were not successful. Isabelle Robitaille is dead. Her family torn apart. Etienne Beaulieu is not criminally responsible. The cost is immeasurable, and yet nobody pays.

And the crown sits quietly, patting themselves on the back for a job well done.

Related posts:

1. Can Schizophrenics be treated? Yes. Cured? No

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