Ontario Review Board
Re: Ryan Smrke
ORB File No: 8131
Hearing held on: Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Place of hearing: Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care 500 Church Street, Penetanguishene
Pursuant to: Sections 672.48(1) and 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. C. MacIntyre, K.C.
Members: Dr. C. Krasnik Dr. G. Stones Ms. A. La Viola Ms. D. Smith
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Ryan Smrke Counsel: Mr. P. Giancaterino
The person in charge of hospital: Representative: Ms. T. Newman
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. S. Curry
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated April 11, 2025)
Introduction
On August 24, 2022, Ryan Smrke was found unfit to stand trial on charges of assaulting a peace officer (x4), causing disturbance in a public place, assault, assault with intent to resist arrest, theft not exceeding $5000, failure to comply with probation order, and sexual assault, all contrary to the Criminal Code.
Mr. Smrke is currently subject to an Ontario Review Board Disposition of February 12, 2024, which orders him detained at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs in Penetanguishene. He has minimal privileges of hospital grounds and beyond the secure perimeter, escorted by staff at a minimum 2:1 staff-to-patient ratio.
On February 25, 2025, the Ontario Review Board convened at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care (“Waypoint”) to conduct Mr. Smrke’s annual review pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. This would include a determination of his fitness to stand trial.
The parties were asked to present their preliminary positions prior to hearing the evidence. The hospital and the Crown Attorney submitted that Mr. Smrke remained unfit to stand trial and that he continue on the same Disposition with a minor change to clause 2(b) removing the preference to 2:1 escorted supervision.
On behalf of his client, Mr. Giancaterino indicated that he would reserve his position on the issue of fitness.
At the conclusion of the evidence the Board found that Mr. Smrke remains unfit to stand trial and that he be detained with the same terms and conditions as his current Detention Order but for a change to 2(b) of the order to read “...hospital grounds privilege, beyond the secure perimeter, escorted by staff”.
Index Offences
- Last year's Reasons for Disposition outlined the following details of the offences:
“On May 18, 2022, Mr. Smrke shoplifted two items from a grocery store, and then remained outside the store yelling and screaming. Mr. Smrke was observed lying on the ground in the fetal position while banging his head against the ground. Police were called and Mr. Smrke repeatedly resisted arrest. He attempted to bite and headbutt officers and paramedics and aggressively kicked one of the paramedics in the mouth, causing him to fall back. Mr. Smrke was chemically sedated and transported to the hospital by ambulance. After being medically cleared, Mr. Smrke was escorted out of the hospital in handcuffs. He again became erratically aggressive, throwing his head back in an attempt to headbutt officers.”
Background
A Hospital Report of January 27, 2025, was filed as Exhibit 1 at the hearing. It contains a detailed description of Mr. Smrke’s personal, criminal and psychiatric background.
Mr. Smrke was born on July 3, 1999. The following is extracted from the HCR-20 V3 assessment completed in January 2025.
“Mr. Smrke is diagnosed with Schizophrenia and documentation suggests that he began to exhibit signs and symptoms associated with this illness around the age of 17. As such, much of Mr. Smrke’s behaviour and life course trajectory appears to have been influenced by this illness in combination with his drug use.
These two factors appear to have influenced his academic achievement, his employability, has led to changes in his cognition, personality, impulsive behaviour and ultimately, has led to him having unsafe interactions with others.
Mr. Smrke has had a tremendous number of hospital admissions with the effects of this illness escalating over time, to the point that he has been unable to care for himself and has been admitted to a secure, inpatient, forensic program at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care.”
Mr. Smrke is documented as chronically using an extensive array of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, benzodiazepines, LSD, MDMA, magic mushrooms, opioids, crystal methamphetamine and prescription drugs. He has used these as a coping mechanism and was documented as consuming alcohol prior to and during the commission of his index offence.
Mr. Smrke’s mother indicated that substances such as these are likely a motivator for dysregulation for Mr. Smrke and the use of these has led to him breaking the law and engaging in violent behaviour. Mr. Smrke’s drug use appeared to be chronic and frequent and he reported using crystal methamphetamine “every morning”. His drug use has resulted in him being unable to recall details leading to hospital admissions and he is documented as having various somatic complaints following drug use. Mr. Smrke was noted to begin using marijuana at the age of 14 ...”.
Mr. Smrke has been charged with a significant number of violent offences. These are outlined in the Hospital Report as taken from the CPIC records. He was also charged with sexual assault arising out of an April 2022 incident, the status of which might be outstanding.
Following his finding of being unfit to stand trial by the Court, Mr. Smrke was transferred to the Royal Ottawa Hospital, however, he assaulted numerous staff members and patients and Mr. Smrke was admitted to Waypoint on March 1, 2023 where he now resides. He has been found unfit to stand trial by Review Board decisions since then.
Evidence at Hearing
Dr. Ismail testified on behalf of the hospital. He agreed with the contents of the Hospital Report of January 27, 2025. He updated the report to indicate that Mr. Smrke’s medication had been adjusted. In particular, his dose of clozapine was increased to 850 milligrams.
On December 20, 2023, Mr. Smrke had been transferred from the Forensic Assessment Program to the Beckwith Program. The Beckwith Program contains Waypoint’s most structured units. In the past year Mr. Smrke required seclusion on three occasions, two of them in excess of seven days requiring hearings by the Ontario Review Board.
In January of 2024, Mr. Smrke became agitated and attempted to punch one of his escorting staff. He was secluded between January 24 and January 31, 2024.
On March 2, 2024, Mr. Smrke punched a co-patient in the head while waiting in line in the dining room. He was then secluded between March 2 to 9, 2024. He could not say why he had struck the co-patient.
On October 7, while on an escorted walk on the hospital grounds, Mr. Smrke grabbed an escorting nurse and put the nurse in a choke hold.
In all three of the above assaults, Mr. Smrke advised that he was experiencing voices. Following the last assault, he advised his behavioural support specialist that he was experiencing auditory hallucinations and felt that the staff member was going to harm other staff and thought he had no choice but to stop the staff member. Voices were telling him that “people were in danger and the nurse was going to be the one to do it”.
Dr. Ismail testified that this last assault took the hospital team by surprise. There was no warning or apparent trigger for this event. Dr. Ismail added that following this assault, Mr. Smrke shared with Dr. Ismail that he has always had command hallucinations, but had not up to then disclosed their command nature.
As an example of the inconsistency in Mr. Smrke’s responses to various questions and issues on a fitness assessment, Dr. Ismail noted that on January 9, 2025, Mr. Smrke, with prompting, could state the pleas available to him and he knew the roles of the judge and Crown Attorney. However, he did not know what he was charged with and was unable to explain this despite prompting.
When Dr. Ismail assessed Mr. Smrke the day before the hearing, he could say that he had done something wrong and was able to state his charges quite well. This was an improvement from his prior assessment, but at the same time he became confused about the court process and the roles of the officers of the court. Mr. Smrke felt that the roles of the judge and the Crown Attorney were to trick him into pleading guilty. Dr. Ismail testified that this response had a paranoid flavour to it. Mr. Smrke also did not understand the significance of pleas available to him. In general, he felt that he would go to jail. With prompting he was aware that he was under the Ontario Review Board’s jurisdiction and would have his annual review hearing today.
Dr. Ismail does not think that Mr. Smrke is capable of instructing counsel at this time. He is unable to sustain attention for very long. When prompted, he can answer more questions, but he cannot retain the information to be able to repeat his answers the following day.
In general Mr. Smrke had little to no insight as to why he suffered periods of seclusion. With a lot of 1:1 psychotherapy he improved somewhat. He now understands that he had auditory command hallucinations that told him to hurt others. It is due to his aggression to others that Dr. Ismail and the hospital team submit that he should remain at Waypoint. Dr. Ismail noted that the aggression that prompted three seclusion events in the past year is what caused Mr. Smrke’s transfer from the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre to Waypoint. It is acknowledged that Mr. Smrke’s mother, who was in attendance at today’s hearing, would wish to have her son moved to a hospital closer to the Ottawa area, but as above indicated, his violent acts, inconsistent engagement, limited insight into the need for ongoing care and reluctance to disclose distressing thoughts or feelings, all demonstrate that he requires the structure and supervision provided at Waypoint within its maximum secure environment.
In his closing submissions, Mr. Giancaterino did not oppose the position of the hospital and Crown counsel that his client remains unfit to stand trial and should remain at Waypoint with the same terms and conditions.
Decision
The Board agrees with the submissions of counsel that the evidence supports that Mr. Smrke continues to be unfit to stand trial and should remain detained at Waypoint with the same Disposition terms.
The hospital explained that the reference at clause 2(b) of the current Disposition requiring 2:1 staff escort when utilizing the hospital grounds privileges beyond the secure perimeter is unnecessary as the hospital’s protocol and standards is a minimum of 2:1 staff. It therefore need not be stated as such in the Disposition order.
Dr. Ismail supports the conclusions on fitness outlined in the Hospital Report which state that Mr. Smrke’s responses to the Taylor competency test indicate profound deficits in his understanding of the nature, objectives and potential consequences of the criminal proceedings and his capacity to communicate effectively with counsel.
His responses reveal an “inability to grasp the possible outcomes of the proceedings” and he demonstrates an “impaired capacity to understand the gravity of the situation or the range of potential outcomes” and hence has an inability to participate meaningfully in his defence.
Mr. Smrke’s mental disorder also impairs his ability to communicate coherently with his legal team. “His tendency to provide incomplete, incorrect, or vague answers suggests difficulty in processing and relaying critical information.”
There is an indication that there has been some improvement in Mr. Smrke’s responses to fitness questions which may be attributable to the initiation of ECT in December of 2024. This has resulted in a brighter affect and his becoming more engaged with others, whereas prior to these treatments he was guarded and withdrawn and less forthcoming about his mental health symptoms. Mr. Smrke has now begun some cognitive behavioural therapy and frequent meetings with his fitness coach will continue.
In the clinical assessment of risk section of the Hospital Report, Dr. Ismail outlines the risk factors that support that Mr. Smrke is a significant threat to the safety of the public. These risk factors remain unchallenged and all counsel acknowledged that Mr. Smrke remains a significant threat to the safety of the public.
In all the circumstances, the Board finds that Mr. Smrke is unfit to stand trial. It is clear that not only does he lack a consistent grasp of the basic Taylor questions, but significantly, his overall understanding of the legal process and inability to communicate effectively with counsel precludes the mounting of a proper defence to his charges at a trial. He should therefore remain detained at Waypoint with the same terms and conditions as his current Disposition with the slight amendment to the grounds privileges.
DATED this 11th day of April 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. C. MacIntyre, K.C.
Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board