Court of Appeal for Ontario

Date: 2017-01-16 Docket: C62177

Judges: Feldman, Rouleau and van Rensburg JJ.A.

In the Matter of: Robert Abernethy

An Appeal Under Part XX.1 of the Code

Counsel:

• Ian B. Kasper and Anita Szigeti, for the appellant
• Scott Latimer, for the Attorney General of Ontario

Heard: January 13, 2017

On appeal against the disposition of the Ontario Review Board dated April 27, 2016.

Appeal Book Endorsement

[1] The appellant raises two grounds of appeal. The first is that the Board should have made further inquiries of Dr. Coleman or another doctor regarding the cause of his psychosis, whether from liver disease or from bipolar disorder.

[2] We do not agree. Dr. Coleman's evidence clearly was that the appellant maintained his psychotic symptoms that made him a danger to the public regardless of the cause. The Board made no error in accepting the joint position that the appellant remained a significant risk to the safety of the public.

[3] The second ground was that the Board erred by rejecting the hospital's and the appellant's position on two conditions regarding access to the community and an approved person. We see no error in either the conclusion of the Board to give more limited community access at this time and to reject an approved person at this time, or in the reasons the Board gave in paragraph 44, that the appellant was not yet ready for those conditions.

[4] The appeal is therefore dismissed.