XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: sk.politics, man.politics, mtl.general   
   From: Paula@nyet.ca   
      
   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   
      
      
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