Ms. Jean Kim

The defendant was convicted of abduction, break and enter, two counts of assault, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm, related to the abduction of his daughter.

The court rejected the Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) defense but acknowledged the defendant's mental disorder played a significant role in the offenses.

The Crown sought a sentence of 3.5 to 4 years less pre-trial custody, while the defense argued for a non-custodial sentence.

The court, emphasizing rehabilitation over deterrence due to the mental disorder, imposed a sentence of time served (credited at approximately 15 months), a three-year probation order with strict conditions, and a two-year driving prohibition.

The defendant, Mario Rodrigues, was charged with two counts of assault, break and enter, abduction of his daughter, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

The central issue at trial was whether he was Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) due to a mental disorder under s. 16(1) of the Criminal Code.

The court considered conflicting expert psychiatric opinions regarding the defendant's mental state and capacity to understand the moral wrongfulness of his actions.

The court found that the defendant failed to prove his NCR defence on a balance of probabilities, concluding that he knew his actions were both legally and morally wrong.

Consequently, convictions were entered on all five counts.

The applicant sought to vary an intermittent sentence of 81 days by reducing it to account for time served in custody on unrelated charges.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the power to vary intermittent sentences is limited to the circumstances set out in section 732 of the Criminal Code.

The court further held that even if such variation were possible, it would not grant the remedy because the applicant had made a tactical choice to remain eligible for release rather than converting the intermittent sentence to straight time when arrested on new charges.