Daily BrewCrown challenges decision to grant cop-killer Richard Kachkar escorted leave from psychiatric hospital
Expect the law-and-order crowd to watch closely how an Ontario Appeal Court panel decides the legal battle over whether cop-killer Richard Kachkar should get escorted passes from a psychiatric hospital.
The Conservative government is determined to shorten the leash that holds those deemed not criminally responsible for heinous acts because of a mental disorder.
The Appeal Court heard arguments Monday in the Crown's appeal of a decision to grant Kachkar escorted trips into the community less than a year after being locked up in the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, in Whitby.
A jury last March found Kachkar not criminally responsible for the Jaunary 2011 killing of Toronto police Sgt. Ryan Russell.
[ Related: Richard Kachkar found not criminally responsible of killing Toronto officer with snowplow ]
Russell was out of his cruiser and trying to stop Kachkar, who'd stolen a snowplow-equipped truck. Video from a camera in Russell's car showed the plow do a U-turn and drive towards Russell, who was struck off camera before the plow crashed into the police car.
Witnesses at Kachkar's trial testified he was raving about the Taliban and claiming the incident was part of a "Russian video game." A psychiatrist testified Kachkar was either schizophrenic or suffering from some other psychotic problem.
Under the Criminal Code, those found not criminally responsible (NCR) are held in a psychiatric facility until they're deemed fit for release. In Kachkar's case, that decision is made by the Ontario Review Board based on assessments by his treatment team and others.
Similar processes are used in other provinces and the procedure has come under fire from victims' rights groups and politicians on the right as leaving too much power in the hands of doctors.
The Conservative government last fall introduced the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act, which would put public safety as the main consideration in decisions to release someone and create a new high-risk designation that would, among other things, bar the release of an NCR accused until a court revokes the designation.
High-profile cases such as Allan Schoenborn and Vincent Li gave impetus to the legislation.
Schoenborn was found not criminally responsible for the 2008 killing his three young children, who were living with their mother in Merritt, B.C., after the couple broke up.
In 2011, Schoenborn applied to the B.C. Review Board for escorted leave from the suburban Vancouver psychiatric hospital where he is being held so he could do things like go for coffee.
The board initially granted permission but the decision sparked an outcry partly because his ex-wife, Darcie Clarke, lived in the same community. Schoenborn withdrew his application a couple of weeks later, saying he wanted to spare Clarke the anxiety, the Globe and Mail reported at the time.
A similar furor erupted over a 2012 decision by the Manitoba Review Board to give Vincent Li escorted passes.
Li was found not criminally responsible for killing, beheading and partially eating Tim McLean aboard a Greyhound buss near Portage La Prairie, Man., in 2008.
The decision upset McLean's mother, who said Li — who was diagnosed with schizophrenia — should never be allowed out of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, CBC News reported.
[ Related: Vince Li’s horrific crime puts spotlight on rehabilitation for mentally ill offenders ]
The Crown in Manitoba raised no objection's to Li's escorted outings. But in the Kachkar case, the Crown told the court Monday it was blindsided by the review board's decision, the Toronto Star reported.
"It's just premature at this point, given how little we know" about the factors that led to Kachkar’s psychotic break in the first place, Crown counsel Eric Siebenmorgen told the court, according to the Star.
Defence lawyer Peter Copeland argued the review board's decision was reasonable and rejected Crown claims that the board made a procedural error by granting community access without giving the Crown or defence a chance to comment.
But Kachkar's lawyer contends the decision balances public safety with the requirement to give NCR accused the least restrictive conditions in line with their treatment.
"He is a model patient," Copeland said. "He has shown good insight into his circumstances and his need for treatment."
The court's decision will come down at a later date. Expect a fresh outcry if it backs the review board.
