The appellant was charged with aggravated assault and break and enter after consuming alcohol and psilocybin mushrooms and committing violent acts while in a state of extreme intoxication akin to automatism.
The Crown invoked s. 33.1 of the Criminal Code to bar the defence of self-induced extreme intoxication.
The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously held that s. 33.1 violates ss. 7 and 11(d) of the Charter by permitting conviction without proof of mens rea or voluntariness, and that these violations could not be saved under s. 1 because the provision is not minimally impairing and its deleterious effects outweigh its salutary benefits.
Section 33.1 was declared unconstitutional and of no force or effect, and the trial acquittal was restored.
