Court of Appeal for Ontario
Date: August 26, 2019 Docket: C66453
Judges: Watt, Pepall and Huscroft JJ.A.
In the Matter of: Jameel Giscombe
An Appeal Under Part XX.1 of the Code
Counsel:
- Joanne Weiss, for the appellant
- Kendra Naidoo, for the Person in Charge of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
- Catherine Weiler, for the Crown
Heard: August 23, 2019
On appeal against the disposition of the Ontario Review Board dated December 27, 2018.
Appeal Book Endorsement
[1] The appellant appeals from the December 27, 2018 disposition of the Board, pursuant to which he was detained on a forensic unit at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), with privileges up to and including indirectly supervised hospital and grounds privileges and entry into the community of Toronto accompanied by staff.
[2] The appellant asserts that the Board departed from a joint submission of the parties in rejecting his request for community privileges accompanied by an "approved person", and denied him procedural fairness in doing so.
[3] We disagree.
[4] The short answer to the appellant's submission is that no joint submission was made.
[5] The Board's decision requiring staff accompaniment, and rejecting a community living option, is amply supported by the evidence of the appellant's history of violence, hallucinations, and refusal to take oral medication, in addition to the opinion of Dr. Jones, the appellant's treating psychiatrist, who testified that the appellant is simply not ready for community living.
[6] The Board's decision is reasonable and there is no basis for this court to interfere.
[7] The appeal is dismissed.