Dr. S. Cohen

The offender was convicted of two counts of assault with a weapon and one count of using an imitation firearm to commit an indictable offence.

The offender was experiencing drug-induced psychosis at the time of the offences, having consumed marijuana despite a documented history of psychotic episodes triggered by cannabis use and multiple hospitalizations where medical professionals warned him of the dangers.

The offender absconded before sentencing.

The court imposed a two-year custodial sentence (one year concurrent on assault charges, one year consecutive on the firearm charge) plus two years probation, finding the offender's moral culpability to be extremely high given his awareness of the risks and prior violent incidents while intoxicated.

The accused was charged with multiple offences, including assault with a weapon, after pointing an unloaded pellet gun at two pedestrians in downtown Toronto.

The defence argued that the accused lacked the necessary mental intent due to drug-induced psychosis or, in the alternative, was not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

The court held that the accused's drug-induced state raised a reasonable doubt regarding the specific intent required for the weapon possession charge, resulting in an acquittal on that count.

However, the court rejected the not criminally responsible defence for the general intent offences because the psychosis was voluntarily self-induced through cannabis use, resulting in convictions on the remaining charges.