(=_=)
2014-12-23 20:57:07 UTC
Harper and his government have spent BILLIONS on expanding the prison system
since they took office. But have they spent proportionate tax dollars on
building or expanding mental health hospitals and treatment facilities? NO.
They've been using the expanded prisons to incarcerate mentally ill who have
offended. And they've left potential offenders out on our streets - untreated
and potentially dangerous to many of us.
Ashley Smith . . . Despite guards watching her on video monitors, Smith was
able to strangle herself with a strip of cloth, and it was 45 minutes before
guards or supervisors entered her cell and confirmed her death.
She was originally sentenced and incarcerated as a young offender but on her
18th birthday the province of New Brunswick applied to have her treated as an
adult.
"That resulted in her being transferred to the federal system and when she came
into the federal system she was immediately put into segregation status. She
never got the benefit of a full mental health assessment and a mental health
plan -- partly because she was uncooperative on many occasions and partly
because the system simply moved her around too much. So there were many, many
failings of the system in how they dealt with Ashley Smith and how they failed
to adjust their response to her behaviour.
Howard Sapers has spent the last 10 years probing Canada's federal prison
system, calling out malpractice and gaps in service and documenting them in
more than dozen reports.
As the Correctional Investigator of Canada (currently in his third term), it's
his job to advocate for the rights of those inside the system. His most recent
reports have slammed Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) for its lax approach
to caring for elderly and chronically ill inmates, a growing segment of the
prison population.
He's also been highly critical of the impact of Tory crime legislation on
issues of overcrowding in prisons -- in particular the criminalization of
mental illness.
__________________________________________________________________
Notable cases involving not criminally responsible defence
The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, December 23, 2014 1:49PM EST
Here are some notable cases involving not criminally responsible defence:
LUKA ROCCO MAGNOTTA
Luka Rocco Magnotta was found guilty of first-degree murder on Tuesday, marking
another notable case in which a not criminally responsible defence was not
successful. Magnotta was convicted of a total of five charges in the May 2012
death and dismemberment of Chinese exchange student Jun Lin. Magnotta admitted
to causing Lin's death, but his defence lawyer argued that Magnotta was not of
sound mind during the killing. Experts testified on his behalf that Magnotta is
schizophrenic and was psychotic and out of touch with reality the night of the
slaying. But prosecutor Louis Bouthillier said in killing Lin, Magnotta kept a
promise made several months earlier to take the life of a human being.
Related Stories
Magnotta found guilty of first-degree murder
'In one night, we lost a lifetime of our hope,' Jun Lin's father says
CHRISTOPHER HUSBANDS
Husbands was convicted earlier this month of two counts of second-degree murder
and other offences in a deadly shooting at a downtown Toronto mall. In reaching
their verdict, jurors rejected the defence's contention he should be found not
criminally responsible. Husbands admitted to fatally shooting two men and
wounding five others after he opened fire in the crowded food court of
Toronto's Eaton Centre in June 2012. He pleaded not guilty to multiple charges
that included two counts of first-degree murder. His defence lawyers argued
Husbands should be found not criminally responsible. A psychiatrist called by
the defence testified that Husbands suffered from post traumatic stress
disorder and acted like a "robotic automaton" when he found himself confronted
at the mall by two men who had viciously attacked him months earlier. The Crown
argued that Husbands gunned down the two men in deliberate retaliation for
their attack on him.
TREVOR KLOSCHINSKY
Trevor Kloschinsky killed Alberta peace officer Rod Lazenby, 62, who had come
to his rural property in August 2012 to investigate a dog complaint. He was
charged with first-degree murder but Queen's Bench Justice Beth Hughes ruled
earlier this month that Kloschinsky, 49, was not criminally responsible. Hughes
pointed to a report done by Dr. Sergio Santana, a forensic psychiatrist, who
said Kloschinsky suggested to him that it was his right to defend his property
against a thief, enforce the law and make a citizen's arrest. "Mr.
Kloschinsky's thinking processes were as affected by his delusional thinking as
to prevent him from realizing that assaulting officer Lazenby was wrong,"
Hughes quoted from Santana's report. Lazenby was a retired RCMP officer who was
responsible for enforcing bylaws in the Municipal District of Foothills. "I do
not feel justice has been served for my father, our family member, peace
officer Rod Lazenby," said Lazenby's daughter, Meghan McLean. McLean said the
family is unhappy that Kloschinsky is to be held at a mental hospital and
subjected to annual reviews instead of being sentenced to time in prison.
GUY TURCOTTE
Guy Turcotte, a cardiologist in Quebec, was found not criminally responsible in
2011 in the 2009 stabbing deaths of his three-year-old daughter and
five-year-old son. He was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Montreal and
released in December 2012. An appeals court overturned the 2011 verdict in
November 2013, and Turcotte is slated to stand trial a second time in September
2015. He is currently free on bail.
ALVIN BUCKWOLD
Alvin Buckwold was charged with second-degree murder after his father,
Saskatoon lawyer Ian Buckwold, was found dead at the family cottage in July
2013. Alvin Buckwold was found not criminally responsible due to his
schizophrenia in June and was remanded to a mental health facility.
NERLIN SARMIENTO
Nerlin Sarmiento told court she killed her seven-year-old son by drowning him
in the bathtub in February 2013, but argued she was mentally ill at the time. A
judge ultimately agreed with the defence arguments, accepting a psychiatric
assessment that said the 32-year-old Edmonton woman was in the throes of a
serious depressive episode as part of her bipolar disorder. Doctors said
Sarmiento believed she was sparing her son from a life of poverty and suffering
when she killed him. She was found not criminally responsible in September 2013.
RICHARD KACHKAR
Richard Kachkar stole a snowplow in the early morning of Jan. 12, 2011, and in
the middle of a two-hour rampage with it he hit and killed Toronto Police Sgt.
Ryan Russell. Various witnesses heard him yell about the Taliban, Chinese
technology and microchips. Psychiatrists concluded he was psychotic, but
struggled with an exact diagnosis. He was found not criminally responsible and
was ordered to be held in the secure unit of a mental health hospital near
Toronto. The Ontario Review Board stirred controversy, however, by allowing
Kachkar to take escorted trips into the community. The Crown unsuccessfully
appealed that provision.
MILOSLAV KAPSIK
Miloslav Kapsik bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer, hitting her more
than 100 times while they were watching a hockey game in 2010. Court was told
he had been hearing voices. Medical records showed the Winnipeg man was first
diagnosed with severe depression in 2003. The defence argued he had a mental
illness at the time and wasn't criminally responsible, but Kapsik was convicted
in March of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with no
eligibility for parole for 10 years.
VINCENT LI
Vincent Li was sitting next to a sleeping Tim McLean aboard a Greyhound bus in
Manitoba on July 30, 2008, when he suddenly started stabbing the young carnival
worker. As the bus stopped and horrified passengers fled, Li cut up McLean's
body and ate parts of it. Li told a mental-health advocate he heard the voice
of God telling him McLean was an alien he needed to destroy. Li was found not
criminally responsible and was sent to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. In
2012, he was granted the privilege of escorted trips off the hospital grounds.
ALLAN SCHOENBORN
In April 2008, Darcie Clarke returned to her home in Merritt, B.C., to find her
two sons and daughter dead. Allan Schoenborn, her ex-husband, had killed their
children: 10-year-old Kaitlynne, eight-year-old Max and five-year-old Cordon.
He was diagnosed with delusional disorder and said he killed the children to
protect them from an imagined threat of sexual abuse. In July 2013, the B.C.
criminal justice branch announced Schoenborn would not be transferred from a
psychiatric hospital in British Columbia to a pyschiatric hospital in Manitoba,
as he had requested. He had asked for the transfer to be closer to his family.
GREGORY DESPRES
Gregory Despres killed his elderly neighbours in Minto, N.B., in 2005. He
repeatedly stabbed Fred Fulton, 74, and Verna Decarie, 70, and decapitated
Fulton. He was arrested in Massachusetts shortly after the bodies were
discovered. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Despres had crossed the border the day
before despite border guards finding him carrying a small arsenal including a
chainsaw, a sword and brass knuckles. He told them he was an assassin on a
military mission. Three psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid
schizophrenia. He was found not criminally responsible in 2008. In May, 2013, a
review board said he is still a risk to the public and must remain at a
psychiatric facility inside Dorchester Penitentiary.
FRANCIS PROULX
Francis Proulx entered the home of Nancy Michaud, an aide to a Quebec cabinet
minister, in 2008 and took her hostage while her two children slept. He took
credit cards and banking information and shot her in the head. Proulx then had
sex with her corpse. During his trial, he argued he was not criminally
responsible because of a mental issue, saying he was on medication at the time
of the crime. But he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life
in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. The Supreme Court of Canada
refused to hear an appeal.
GLEN RACE
Glen Race pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Trevor Brewster
and second-degree murder in the slaying of Paul Michael Knott. According to an
agreed statement of facts presented in court in November 2013, Race suffered
from schizophrenia and was not taking his medicine in May 2007 when he lured
the Halifax men to their deaths in separate incidents. The statement of facts
alleged that Race believed he was a vampire slayer and a god-like entity at the
time of the killings. Both the Crown and the defence recommended that Race
should be found not criminally responsible, and the verdict was officially
handed down in January of this year.
ELAINE CAMPIONE
Elaine Campione drowned her daughters, Serena, 3, and Sophia, 19 months, in the
bathtub in 2006 days before a family court hearing in the midst of a custody
battle with her ex-husband. Court heard doctors had diagnosed the Barrie, Ont.,
woman as having unspecified psychosis with borderline personality traits,
post-traumatic stress disorder from spousal abuse, depression and an eating
disorder. She had spent time in psychiatric wards, attempted suicide and had
delusions that people were trying to kill her and steal the girls. Her lawyer
urged the jury to find her not criminally responsible, but the Crown
successfully argued her mental illness didn't prevent her from knowing right
from wrong. Campione was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life
in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.
Read more:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/notable-cases-involving-not-criminally-responsible-defence-1.2160158#ixzz3MkxExojj
Read more:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/notable-cases-involving-not-criminally-responsible-defence-1.2160158#ixzz3Mkx9D49N
since they took office. But have they spent proportionate tax dollars on
building or expanding mental health hospitals and treatment facilities? NO.
They've been using the expanded prisons to incarcerate mentally ill who have
offended. And they've left potential offenders out on our streets - untreated
and potentially dangerous to many of us.
Ashley Smith . . . Despite guards watching her on video monitors, Smith was
able to strangle herself with a strip of cloth, and it was 45 minutes before
guards or supervisors entered her cell and confirmed her death.
She was originally sentenced and incarcerated as a young offender but on her
18th birthday the province of New Brunswick applied to have her treated as an
adult.
"That resulted in her being transferred to the federal system and when she came
into the federal system she was immediately put into segregation status. She
never got the benefit of a full mental health assessment and a mental health
plan -- partly because she was uncooperative on many occasions and partly
because the system simply moved her around too much. So there were many, many
failings of the system in how they dealt with Ashley Smith and how they failed
to adjust their response to her behaviour.
Howard Sapers has spent the last 10 years probing Canada's federal prison
system, calling out malpractice and gaps in service and documenting them in
more than dozen reports.
As the Correctional Investigator of Canada (currently in his third term), it's
his job to advocate for the rights of those inside the system. His most recent
reports have slammed Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) for its lax approach
to caring for elderly and chronically ill inmates, a growing segment of the
prison population.
He's also been highly critical of the impact of Tory crime legislation on
issues of overcrowding in prisons -- in particular the criminalization of
mental illness.
__________________________________________________________________
Notable cases involving not criminally responsible defence
The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, December 23, 2014 1:49PM EST
Here are some notable cases involving not criminally responsible defence:
LUKA ROCCO MAGNOTTA
Luka Rocco Magnotta was found guilty of first-degree murder on Tuesday, marking
another notable case in which a not criminally responsible defence was not
successful. Magnotta was convicted of a total of five charges in the May 2012
death and dismemberment of Chinese exchange student Jun Lin. Magnotta admitted
to causing Lin's death, but his defence lawyer argued that Magnotta was not of
sound mind during the killing. Experts testified on his behalf that Magnotta is
schizophrenic and was psychotic and out of touch with reality the night of the
slaying. But prosecutor Louis Bouthillier said in killing Lin, Magnotta kept a
promise made several months earlier to take the life of a human being.
Related Stories
Magnotta found guilty of first-degree murder
'In one night, we lost a lifetime of our hope,' Jun Lin's father says
CHRISTOPHER HUSBANDS
Husbands was convicted earlier this month of two counts of second-degree murder
and other offences in a deadly shooting at a downtown Toronto mall. In reaching
their verdict, jurors rejected the defence's contention he should be found not
criminally responsible. Husbands admitted to fatally shooting two men and
wounding five others after he opened fire in the crowded food court of
Toronto's Eaton Centre in June 2012. He pleaded not guilty to multiple charges
that included two counts of first-degree murder. His defence lawyers argued
Husbands should be found not criminally responsible. A psychiatrist called by
the defence testified that Husbands suffered from post traumatic stress
disorder and acted like a "robotic automaton" when he found himself confronted
at the mall by two men who had viciously attacked him months earlier. The Crown
argued that Husbands gunned down the two men in deliberate retaliation for
their attack on him.
TREVOR KLOSCHINSKY
Trevor Kloschinsky killed Alberta peace officer Rod Lazenby, 62, who had come
to his rural property in August 2012 to investigate a dog complaint. He was
charged with first-degree murder but Queen's Bench Justice Beth Hughes ruled
earlier this month that Kloschinsky, 49, was not criminally responsible. Hughes
pointed to a report done by Dr. Sergio Santana, a forensic psychiatrist, who
said Kloschinsky suggested to him that it was his right to defend his property
against a thief, enforce the law and make a citizen's arrest. "Mr.
Kloschinsky's thinking processes were as affected by his delusional thinking as
to prevent him from realizing that assaulting officer Lazenby was wrong,"
Hughes quoted from Santana's report. Lazenby was a retired RCMP officer who was
responsible for enforcing bylaws in the Municipal District of Foothills. "I do
not feel justice has been served for my father, our family member, peace
officer Rod Lazenby," said Lazenby's daughter, Meghan McLean. McLean said the
family is unhappy that Kloschinsky is to be held at a mental hospital and
subjected to annual reviews instead of being sentenced to time in prison.
GUY TURCOTTE
Guy Turcotte, a cardiologist in Quebec, was found not criminally responsible in
2011 in the 2009 stabbing deaths of his three-year-old daughter and
five-year-old son. He was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Montreal and
released in December 2012. An appeals court overturned the 2011 verdict in
November 2013, and Turcotte is slated to stand trial a second time in September
2015. He is currently free on bail.
ALVIN BUCKWOLD
Alvin Buckwold was charged with second-degree murder after his father,
Saskatoon lawyer Ian Buckwold, was found dead at the family cottage in July
2013. Alvin Buckwold was found not criminally responsible due to his
schizophrenia in June and was remanded to a mental health facility.
NERLIN SARMIENTO
Nerlin Sarmiento told court she killed her seven-year-old son by drowning him
in the bathtub in February 2013, but argued she was mentally ill at the time. A
judge ultimately agreed with the defence arguments, accepting a psychiatric
assessment that said the 32-year-old Edmonton woman was in the throes of a
serious depressive episode as part of her bipolar disorder. Doctors said
Sarmiento believed she was sparing her son from a life of poverty and suffering
when she killed him. She was found not criminally responsible in September 2013.
RICHARD KACHKAR
Richard Kachkar stole a snowplow in the early morning of Jan. 12, 2011, and in
the middle of a two-hour rampage with it he hit and killed Toronto Police Sgt.
Ryan Russell. Various witnesses heard him yell about the Taliban, Chinese
technology and microchips. Psychiatrists concluded he was psychotic, but
struggled with an exact diagnosis. He was found not criminally responsible and
was ordered to be held in the secure unit of a mental health hospital near
Toronto. The Ontario Review Board stirred controversy, however, by allowing
Kachkar to take escorted trips into the community. The Crown unsuccessfully
appealed that provision.
MILOSLAV KAPSIK
Miloslav Kapsik bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer, hitting her more
than 100 times while they were watching a hockey game in 2010. Court was told
he had been hearing voices. Medical records showed the Winnipeg man was first
diagnosed with severe depression in 2003. The defence argued he had a mental
illness at the time and wasn't criminally responsible, but Kapsik was convicted
in March of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with no
eligibility for parole for 10 years.
VINCENT LI
Vincent Li was sitting next to a sleeping Tim McLean aboard a Greyhound bus in
Manitoba on July 30, 2008, when he suddenly started stabbing the young carnival
worker. As the bus stopped and horrified passengers fled, Li cut up McLean's
body and ate parts of it. Li told a mental-health advocate he heard the voice
of God telling him McLean was an alien he needed to destroy. Li was found not
criminally responsible and was sent to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. In
2012, he was granted the privilege of escorted trips off the hospital grounds.
ALLAN SCHOENBORN
In April 2008, Darcie Clarke returned to her home in Merritt, B.C., to find her
two sons and daughter dead. Allan Schoenborn, her ex-husband, had killed their
children: 10-year-old Kaitlynne, eight-year-old Max and five-year-old Cordon.
He was diagnosed with delusional disorder and said he killed the children to
protect them from an imagined threat of sexual abuse. In July 2013, the B.C.
criminal justice branch announced Schoenborn would not be transferred from a
psychiatric hospital in British Columbia to a pyschiatric hospital in Manitoba,
as he had requested. He had asked for the transfer to be closer to his family.
GREGORY DESPRES
Gregory Despres killed his elderly neighbours in Minto, N.B., in 2005. He
repeatedly stabbed Fred Fulton, 74, and Verna Decarie, 70, and decapitated
Fulton. He was arrested in Massachusetts shortly after the bodies were
discovered. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Despres had crossed the border the day
before despite border guards finding him carrying a small arsenal including a
chainsaw, a sword and brass knuckles. He told them he was an assassin on a
military mission. Three psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid
schizophrenia. He was found not criminally responsible in 2008. In May, 2013, a
review board said he is still a risk to the public and must remain at a
psychiatric facility inside Dorchester Penitentiary.
FRANCIS PROULX
Francis Proulx entered the home of Nancy Michaud, an aide to a Quebec cabinet
minister, in 2008 and took her hostage while her two children slept. He took
credit cards and banking information and shot her in the head. Proulx then had
sex with her corpse. During his trial, he argued he was not criminally
responsible because of a mental issue, saying he was on medication at the time
of the crime. But he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life
in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. The Supreme Court of Canada
refused to hear an appeal.
GLEN RACE
Glen Race pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Trevor Brewster
and second-degree murder in the slaying of Paul Michael Knott. According to an
agreed statement of facts presented in court in November 2013, Race suffered
from schizophrenia and was not taking his medicine in May 2007 when he lured
the Halifax men to their deaths in separate incidents. The statement of facts
alleged that Race believed he was a vampire slayer and a god-like entity at the
time of the killings. Both the Crown and the defence recommended that Race
should be found not criminally responsible, and the verdict was officially
handed down in January of this year.
ELAINE CAMPIONE
Elaine Campione drowned her daughters, Serena, 3, and Sophia, 19 months, in the
bathtub in 2006 days before a family court hearing in the midst of a custody
battle with her ex-husband. Court heard doctors had diagnosed the Barrie, Ont.,
woman as having unspecified psychosis with borderline personality traits,
post-traumatic stress disorder from spousal abuse, depression and an eating
disorder. She had spent time in psychiatric wards, attempted suicide and had
delusions that people were trying to kill her and steal the girls. Her lawyer
urged the jury to find her not criminally responsible, but the Crown
successfully argued her mental illness didn't prevent her from knowing right
from wrong. Campione was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life
in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.
Read more:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/notable-cases-involving-not-criminally-responsible-defence-1.2160158#ixzz3MkxExojj
Read more:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/notable-cases-involving-not-criminally-responsible-defence-1.2160158#ixzz3Mkx9D49N