Ontario Review Board

Re: Aaron B. Martin

ORB File No: 7110

Hearing held on: Friday, June 20, 2025

Place of Hearing: Brockville Mental Health Centre

Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code

Before:

Alternate Chairperson: Mr. M. Segal

Members: Dr. Y. Alatishe

Dr. G. Eayrs

Mr. G. Beasley

Ms. R. MacIntyre

Parties Appearing:

Accused: Aaron B. Martin Counsel: Mr. J. Boss

Person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. A. Alabi

Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. K. Schultz

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated August 1, 2025)

Introduction

1. Mr. Aaron Martin, age 33, was on February 13, 2017, found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on charges of assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm, all contrary to the Criminal Code.

2. On June 20, 2025, Mr. Martin appeared before the Ontario Review Board (the Board) for his annual hearing at the Brockville Mental Health Centre (the Hospital).

3. Exhibit one was the Hospital Report dated May 25, 2025. Exhibit 2 was the Rule 13 correspondence between the hospital and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

4. In preliminary positions, the Hospital advanced no change to the current disposition which is a Detention order. The Hospital took a neutral position in support of the transfer but, by and large, supported it. Crown counsel was in support of the disposition and took no position on the transfer.

5. Mr. J. Boss, appearing for the patient, deferred on disposition but indicated that his client was not in favour of a transfer.

Index Offences

6. The nature of the allegations giving rise to the charges on the index offences is described in the hospital report and can be summarized as follows:

“According to the Crown Synopsis, on 13 January 2017, the accused, Mr. Martin pulled out a machete in his rooming house and assaulted his roommate in Ottawa, Mr. Claude Seguin.

On September 24, 2016, the accused was apprehended under Section 17 of the Mental Health Act. On November 10, 23, 2016 and December 21, 2016, and then again on February 4, 2017, the accused was apprehended under a Form 47 for failing to obtain his injectable medication.

The accused has a history of mental illness and specifically on this most recent incident, began talking about why there was a full mood and said to his roommate "you're evil ... you're poison". He then pulled a machete approximately 30 inches in length and assaulted him. He caused a wound that was approximately 4 inches in length and the victim required 7-8 stitches.

The accused was arrested. Upon arrest, the machete was retrieved in plain view.

According to the Crown Brief, Mr. Martin does not have any criminal record. It was noted in the Prosecution Summary that a psychiatric examination was required. Of note, the police noted "sober" in their report at the time of the offence.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE POLICE OCCURRENCE REPORT:

A constable was on general patrol in the City of Ottawa. At approximately 2201 hours, he was dispatched to the Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus for an assault that occurred at an apartment in Ottawa. The call was placed by an emergency nurse at the Civic Hospital. The victim told the nursing staff that he did not want to cooperate with police but would like his roommate to be arrested or apprehended under the Mental Health Act. The police met with the victim at the Civic Hospital. The victim told the police that at approximately 1900 hours, the victim was sitting down with Mr. Martin discussing the reasoning behind the full moon in the sky. During the discussion, Mr. Martin's demeanour changed, and he became very agitated and aggressive. Mr. Martin grabbed a large 25–30-inch machete from his room. He came out into the hallway and said "I'm gonna put this frigging sword in you". At that point, the victim stood up and tried to distance himself from Mr. Martin.

With both his hands on the machete, Mr. Martin thrust the machete toward Mr. Seguin's chest (the victim). The victim was able to move to the side and deflected the machete with his hands grabbing near the handle. While Mr. Martin was pulling the machete back into his body, he made a twisting motion which caused the machete to cut the victim in his left forearm. The machete left the victim with a 4-inch gash to his left forearm that required numerous stitches. With the victim fearing for his life, he grabbed a bulletin board to use as a shield to protect him from further attacks from the machete. At that time, Mr. Martin retreated into his room. The victim realized he was cut and sought medical attention.

The victim stated that this was not the first time Mr. Martin had attacked him. The victim said that Mr. Martin is schizophrenic and requires an injection from the hospital as Mr. Martin does not take his oral medication. The victim said if he returns to the rooming house, he will barricade himself in his room with the fear of Mr. Martin having access to the machete and possibly using it again. The victim stated that currently Mr. Martin is at the apartment with another roommate, Dave. The victim said he was unsure if Dave was safe at the rooming house as Mr. Martin can be unpredictable and is known to be violent. According to the victim, the rooming-house doors are very cheap and can easily be opened when Jocked.

At approximately 0035 hours, the police went to the apartment. The front door was unlocked, and police entered the rooming house. Apartment #2 was located on the second floor. Mr. Martin was sleeping in his bed, and he was asked to get up as he was being arrested. Mr. Martin was handcuffed. The police saw Mr. Martin dress and he was woken up from sleeping. The police searched incident to arrest and found Mr. Martin's cell phone and wallet located in the left pocket of his pants. While arresting Mr. Martin, the constable observed the machete in plain view near his bed.

The constable asked Mr. Martin if he would like to speak with his lawyer. He verbally replied no. The constable then asked Mr. Martin a second time if he would like to speak with his lawyer. Mr. Martin verbally replied, "/ don't need your jargon, I'm a free person".

The victim also informed the constable that Mr. Martin made comments to him about getting mental help and mentioned that he wants to hurt the nurses and that he "will succeed in slashing".

According to the witness statement written by a constable on behalf of Mr. Seguin, the victim mentioned "I came out of my room. Mr. Martin's pupils dilated holding a machete saying, 'I will kill you', 'you are poison from the aliens"'.

Current Diagnosis

7. Mr. Martin’s current diagnoses are:

• Schizophrenia – treatment resistant, in an acute episode

• Cannabis Use Disorder – in a controlled environment

Background History

8. Mr. Martin is a single man. He was found NCR on February 13, 2017. He was discharged to a 24-hour supervised group home on June 6, 2018, but was readmitted to hospital in January 2021.

9. Mr. Martin was born in the Kingston area and was raised primarily by his mother. He has two older sisters. His parents separated when he was an infant. His mother remarried. His father began to transition when Mr. Martin was 16 which impacted the patient. Mr. Martin had difficulty with learning in public school. He began consuming cannabis at 14 and engaged in significant truancy. He had his first admission to hospital then. He disclosed his diagnosis of schizophrenia which resulted in an assault by ex-friends.

10. He completed a welding course in Algonquin College but has limited work experience. After a lengthy hospitalization at the Royal Ottawa, he began to room with his father, Sarah Martin, and a roommate, Mr. Seguin, the victim. Mr. Seguin bullied his father and would feed into Mr. Martin’s beliefs about extraterrestrial beings. When his father moved out, the relationship between Mr. Martin and Mr. Seguin became rocky with both preparing for the end of the world. Mr. Martin had numerous psychiatric admissions from 2013 on, and failed CTOs. Mr. Martin consumed a lot of alcohol and cannabis as a teenager.

Evidence at Hearing

11. Dr. A. Alabi, the patient’s psychiatrist, testified. Dr. Alabi highlighted that Mr. Martin is treatment resistant with both positive and negative symptoms. Mr. Martin is incapable regarding treatment decisions. If left on his own, Mr. Martin would stop taking medication and treatment. The risk of taking illicit substances would be high. Substances would exacerbate his mental disorder putting the safety of the public at high risk.

12. Mr. Martin was trialed on Clozapine but was non-compliant with it, so it was stopped.

13. ECT was discussed as a possibility but not executed. The Hospital does not have the equipment. Discussions with the Brockville General Hospital did not work out. Recently the Royal Ottawa Hospital indicated it may be prepared to oversee such treatment. There are some preliminary blood tests that must occur before suitability is assessed. Mr. Martin’s substitute decision-maker gave consent some time ago, but Mr. Martin does not want to undergo ECT. Psychoeducation has been tried unsuccessfully. Administering ECT to a non-consenting individual is a significant challenge that may result in it not being administered in Mr. Martin’s case.

14. The therapeutic relationship is a work in progress. Mr. Martin is a man of few words. He is selectively mute. That condition is partially the result of his negative symptoms, and deliberativeness.

15. There was a brief elopement. Some weeks ago, Mr. Martin was late returning to hospital. He decided to walk to town, but after a while, he changed his mind and turned back.

16. Dr. Alabi’s opined that the risk to the public was not confined to the victim but extended to the public at large. Mr. Martin could misconstrue an innocent encounter with a stranger and lash out.

17. Mr. Martin resides in Unit B-4 North, the second most restrictive ward. It is possible Mr. Martin may progress to a less restrictive setting this year.

18. There is no thought at present to community living as Mr. Martin has declined therapy consistently.

19. There have been no concerns about substance use.

20. Mr. Martin does not want contact with his family. There have been no visits though Mr. Martin’s father does speak to the social worker on a regular basis.

21. The Rule 13 application to the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health was initiated by Mr. Martin’s sisters who live in that area.

22. CAMH has indicated it is not in support of the transfer for reasons including the patient’s lack of connection to Toronto. In any event, the waiting list is at least one year.

23. While Dr. Alabi indicated support for the hospital’s position to transfer the patient, he mostly agreed that there did not appear to be a therapeutic benefit to a transfer in this case.

Submissions of the Parties

24. In final submissions, the patient’s counsel agreed that significant threat to the safety of the public remained. The patient is happy in Brockville. There is opposition to his moving to CAMH. The patient’s counsel related that the move to Brockville was hard on his client and his client did not want to go through that experience again.

Analysis

25. Significant threat was conceded. The Board found that it was well grounded in the oral evidence and the hospital report. Mr. Martin has positive and negative symptoms. He continues to demonstrate aggression. He lacks insight, and absent a detention order, he would fall away from treatment and medication, engage in consumption of substances, and be a real risk to cause serious harm.

26. There are challenges to the administration of ECT for a patient who is unwilling although attempts at continuing psychoeducation will no doubt continue.

27. The Rule 13 transfer is opposed. Mr. Martin is apprehensive regarding such a change based on what he experienced when he came to Brockville. While initiated by his sisters, the patient has no contact and no relationship with them. The hospital has not had any communication with them. The patient likes Brockville. The Board declines the transfer application.

28. Mr. Martin is on two intramuscular antipsychotic medications. ECT is commonly considered after other therapeutic measures have been exhausted. There was no evidence before the Board that other antipsychotic medications have been considered.

29. The current disposition continues to be the least restrictive and least onerous approach in this matter.

DATED this 1st day of August, 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.

Mr. M. Segal Alternate Chairperson

Office of the Registrar

Ontario Review Board