Re: Kiarash Badii
ORB File No: 8824
Hearing held on: Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Pursuant to: Section 672.47(1) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Mr. J. Weinstein Members: Dr. L.E. Cappe Dr. S. Wiseman Ms. N. Nathanson Mr. J. Cyr
Parties Appearing: Accused: Kiarash Badii Counsel: Mr. H. Jackson
The person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. Crosse
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. V. Culp
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated March 4, 2026)
Introduction
On June 23, 2025, Mr. Kiarash Badii was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder, on a charge of aggravated assault contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”).
The Court referred the matter to the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) for a Disposition.
On November 4, 2025, an initial hearing pursuant to s. 672.47(1) was held before the Board at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH” or “the Hospital”).
Issues
- The issues for the Board to decide were whether Mr. Badii is a significant threat to the safety of the public and, if so, the necessary and appropriate Disposition for the coming year based on the factors set out in 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
Current Psychiatric Diagnosis
Mr. Badii’s current diagnoses are Schizophrenia, Cannabis Use Disorder, Stimulant Use Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder.
At the hearing, Dr. Crosse added Anti-Social Personality Disorder vs Anti- Social Personality Traits (rule out).
Position of the Parties
The Hospital’s position is that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a Detention Order at the Forensic Service of CAMH. The Hospital recommended privileges up to and including indirectly supervised access to the community. The Hospital sought a weapons prohibition, abstention from substances and urine sample testing for substances.
Counsel for the Ministry of the Attorney General took the position that indirectly supervised passes may be premature. She submitted that a no contact order with the victim should be included.
Mr. Jackson, counsel for Mr. Badii, joined the Hospital in its request for a Detention Order indicating that there was no issue regarding significant threat to the public safety. However, Mr. Jackson opposed the request for abstention from substances and the requirement to submit samples.
Index Offence
- The following summarizes the facts of the Index Offence read into the record on June 23, 2025, at the NCR court proceedings:
In early November 2022, Mr. Badii and Ms. Najafabadi (the “Victim”) became roommates and moved into a two-bedroom condo in Toronto. On November 29, 2022, Mr. Badii returned home from work acting “nervous and upset” and had been consuming marijuana. He took a kitchen knife and threatened to kill the Victim and cut her into pieces. The Victim thought he was joking, took the knife, and went to her room. Mr. Badii was talking “nonsense.” The Victim took her dog for a walk. Upon returning to her room, she could hear Mr. Badii saying, “are you still alive.” He continued to smoke marijuana and play loud music. Unable to sleep, she asked Mr. Badii to turn the music down. He got another larger knife and started attacking the Victim stabbing her on the head with the knife saying that he was going to kill her. Mr. Badii stabbed the Victim and punched her eyes saying, “I’m going to take your eyes out.” She escaped the apartment seeking help and Mr. Badii chased her. He caught up with the Victim and followed her onto the elevator where he continued to stab and punch her. He had pushed all the buttons so it would stop at each floor. On the 12th floor, both the Victim and Mr. Badii left the elevator. A resident opened their door and saw both the Victim and Mr. Badii covered in blood. Mr. Badii left and returned to his apartment where he was later arrested by police. Police located the Victim on the 12th floor. The Victim sustained 17 stab wounds on her body and 13 on her head. She was hospitalized until December 10, 2022. She had a pneumothorax requiring a chest tube to be inserted. She was also intubated.
- At the NCR proceedings, information regarding other incidents was read into the record.
Mr. Badii had been admitted to the Toronto General Hospital on October 9, 2022, in the psychiatric intensive care unit and, while there, he assaulted a security guard causing a concussion, and he attempted to strike a nurse and in doing so, struck another security guard.
On June 28, 2024, Mr. Badii’s father attended 32 Division station to report that Mr. Badii attempted to kill himself by cutting his own neck. When police attempted to apprehend Mr. Badii under Mental Health Act, he assaulted officers in the head and stated he would stab them next time. Mr. Badii was eventually restrained and arrested for utter threats x2 and assault peace officer x2 and taken to hospital.1
On February 22, 2025, at the Toronto South Detention Centre, Mr. Badii committed an unprovoked assault on another inmate striking him multiple times on the side of the head and the face.
Background and History
The following background information is taken from the Hospital Report which was Exhibit 1 at the hearing.
Mr. Badii, 34 years of age, was born in Iran. He immigrated to Canada with his parents when he was seven. He attended university for two years but did not complete a degree. He reports having worked at several jobs on a short-term basis.
Mr. Badii was initially diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2015. The Hospital Report outlines Mr. Badii’s history of numerous psychiatric hospitalizations from 2015 to 2022. He has exhibited bizarre, disorganized, and paranoid behaviour. Mr. Badii has a history of becoming agitated and has, on a number of occasions, threatened and committed assaults causing injuries. He has assaulted his father, police, and hospital staff. He has required mechanical restraint. He has decompensated despite compliance with medication. On other occasions, he has not complied with medication or been resistant to treatment. He has been on a Community Treatment Order on several occasions.
At age 14, Mr. Badii started consuming up to three grams of cannabis daily and, more recently, two grams. He plans to resume cannabis use approximately three times per week at a maximum. He has stated that he will have good control over it. At age 14, he started consuming alcohol daily and very heavily for several months. He has had episodes of memory loss from alcohol consumption and has stated that he has reduced his alcohol consumption. When last in the community, he stated that he drank only a beer or two twice a week at most and he wishes to consume in moderation. He has used cocaine and experimented with crystal methamphetamine. He indicated that he had ingested what he believed to be crystal methamphetamine while in custody.
In the weeks leading up to the Index Offence, Mr. Badii missed two scheduled anti-psychotic injections. His paranoia escalated – he believed his father was the Shah of Iran, that his food was poisoned and that he was under imminent threat. On October 2, 2022, his father brought him to hospital with concerns around decompensation due to medication nonadherence and alcohol and cannabis use. He was admitted involuntarily from October 9-21, 2022, after he tried to choke his father while his father was driving. He reportedly also assaulted an officer.
He was treated at hospital for an injury to his hand after the Index Offence. He stated that he had “attempted to sacrifice his roommate.” He indicated he had smoked cannabis that day.
Medical records from the jail following the incident revealed that Mr. Badii continued to exhibit disorganized thoughts and psychotic symptoms, including delusional beliefs that persisted, despite treatment.
On April 28, 2025, Mr. Badii was taken to the CAMH Emergency Department from Toronto South Detention Centre (“TSDC”) after Mr. Badii had assaulted correctional officers and made various statements about committing sexual acts. On admission, he expressed delusional and persecutory beliefs. He remained in CAMH until May 26, 2025.
Mr. Badii was admitted to the Forensic Assessment Treatment Unit (“FATU”) on August 28, 2025. On admission, he expressed delusional beliefs. He endorsed auditory hallucinations and expressed a belief that he was in a relationship with a nurse at the TDSC although he admitted he may have misunderstood. It was noted that he was a few days from receiving the next dose of his long-acting injectable medication which may have contributed to the presence of psychotic symptoms.
A family visit on August 31, 2025, was terminated early after Mr. Badii was advised that scissors would not be permitted on the unit and became argumentative with staff. As Mr. Badii’s father was being escorted off the unit, Mr. Badii gestured with his thumb across his throat towards a nurse and stated, “I’ll kill you and your whole family.”
The Hospital Report at p. 27 states:
Mr. Badii expressed that he had no intention of remaining abstinent from substances and that he would only comply with urine drug screening if implemented with the sole purpose of supporting a harm reduction plan. He described this harm reduction plan as being a return to using cannabis up to three times a week, stimulants up to twice a week, and MDMA up to twice a month…. He stated that he did not see a connection between his substance use and risk of engaging in violence. He described finding stimulants and cannabis enjoyable to use, only identifying an impact on his sleep as a possible negative effect of using amphetamines. He noted that he had become more paranoid when using cannabis in the past. He was unsure if returning to substance use would have a negative impact on his mental state and stated he was hoping that he was now “strong minded” enough that it would not.
Risk Assessment
- Mr. Badii was assessed with a range of psychological tests, including the Anger Disorders Scale (ADS), the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), and the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R). The Hospital Report references the report of Dr. Smita Vir Tyagi, October 7, 2025, at pages 28-31. On the issue of the ADS, at pages 29-31, the Hospital Report indicates:
Mr. Badii has expressed and used aggression in a wide range of situations for example with family, friends as well as with staff in institutional settings. His score on the Indirect Aggression sub-scale (85th percentile) placed in the ‘Mild range’. This subscale measures tendency to engage in covert acts of aggression. Of note, his score on the Hurt/Social Rejection sub-scale (96th percentile) placed in the ‘Severe range’. This subscale measures the degree to which social rejection can trigger anger episodes. Individuals with high scores tend to be extremely sensitive to criticism and experience interpersonal problems on account of same. This is evident in Mr. Badii’s history with many individuals in his social circle. Overall, these findings indicate problems with anger regulation which is consistent with notes on file regarding his conduct. Although his responses on the PAI did not indicate anger problems findings on the ADS are consistent with self-report as well as documented history of longstanding aggression and acting out behavior.
Mr. Badii’s overall score on the PCL-R places him in the low end of the moderate range for presence of psychopathic traits.
The Hospital Report. p. 33 states:
If Mr. Badii were to reoffend, it would likely be in the context of medication noncompliance, substance use, and poor coping. Given Mr. Badii’s history, it is likely that in the absence of a structured environment and professional supervision, he is at risk of decompensation. If Mr. Badii were to become noncompliant with medications and engage in substance use, he would experience re-emergence of psychosis. He would experience destabilization of his illness, misinterpretation of his surroundings and violence towards others. This may also impact his insight into his illness and decrease the likelihood of him seeking services.
Evidence at the Hearing
The Board had available to it the evidence and documents forming the Record, the Exhibits, and oral evidence from Dr. Crosse, PGY5, acting under the supervision of Dr. Ali.
Dr. Crosse testified that since the Hospital Report was completed, there had been one incident where Mr. Badii decided to stop taking medication but following discussions with the treatment team, he agreed to take it.
Mr. Badii has asked for ADHD medication (a stimulant medication) but without any evidence of ADHD, it was not provided.
The Hospital is recommending abstention from substances and urine sample screening due to Mr. Badii’s long-standing history of use of cannabis, alcohol, stimulants, and other substances. Mr. Badii has expressed that he wishes to return to substance use. If he were to do so, his mental state would deteriorate, he would destabilize, and he could engage in aggression and violence.
On questioning from Counsel for the Ministry of the Attorney General, Dr. Crosse stated that Mr. Baddi is currently on a secure forensic unit and he has not yet had passes to the community. He may be transferred to a general forensic unit within the year but, at this time, he is not ready for a general unit. When he moves to a general forensic unit, and starts to exercise privileges, demonstrating at each level that he is able to comply with the hospital’s rules, it would be up to six months before he could reach the level of exercising indirectly supervised community privileges. To reach that stage, he would have to demonstrate insight into the risk of taking substances. While at Ontario Shores Cantre for Mental Health Services, during an admission in 2022, he admitted to taking alcohol.
In response to questions from counsel, Mr. Jackson, Dr. Crosse testified that Mr. Badii had admitted to taking crystal methamphetamine at the Toronto South Detention Centre, but they are not aware of him taking any substances since his admission to CAMH. Upon admission, he was experiencing delusions and auditory hallucinations which have since improved.
Upon questioning from the panel, Dr. Crosse noted that the use of substances can have a deleterious effect on schizophrenia. It can worsen symptoms and negatively impact medication compliance. The abstention clause was to protect the safety of the public as it was quite likely or highly likely (both meaning the same, in his view) that substance use would contribute to his decompensation.
Dr. Crosse noted that Anti-Social Personality Disorder was a possible diagnosis that should be included in his diagnoses and monitored to be ruled out.
Dr. Crosse also agreed that it was necessary to have a clause requiring Mr. Badii be tested for substances so that should he experience a decompensation of his mental stability the treatment team will be better able to understand the cause of any such decompensation.
Analysis and Conclusions
Having heard and considered the entirety of the evidence as well as the submissions from the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Badii poses a significant threat to the safety of the public.
In Winko, the Supreme Court outlined that, in coming to the conclusion on the issue of significant risk, a Review Board should closely examine a range of evidence, including: the circumstances of the original offence; the past and expected course of the accused’s treatment; the present state of the NCR accused’s medical condition; the NCR accused’s own plans for the future; the support existing for the NCR accused in the community; and most importantly, the recommendations provided by experts who examined the NCR accused. In coming to our conclusion in this matter, the Board relies on the uncontroverted expert evidence of Dr. Crosse in addition to the documentary evidence before us.
In consideration of all the evidence, submissions of the parties and criteria set forth in s. 672.54, the paramount consideration being the safety of the public, in addition to the mental condition, his reintegration into society and his other needs, the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a Detention Order, upon the terms as recommended by the Hospital and a no-contact order with the victim.
This was a very serious Index Offence where the victim was hospitalized with extremely serious injuries. Mr. Badii’s mental health history features frequent instances of threats and violence, to a wide range of people including his family, hospital staff, police, and others, often causing injuries. He has also been a danger to himself. Based upon his history of extensive cannabis, alcohol and other substance use in conjunction with his mental health deterioration as well as the evidence of cannabis at the time of the Index Offence, a term requiring abstention and screening for substances is warranted.
In making this decision, the Panel takes into consideration Mr. Badii’s stated clear intention to resume cannabis and alcohol use as well as other substances. This is supported by Dr. Crosse’s evidence of the significant negative impact that substance use is highly likely to have upon Mr. Badii’s mental state and in turn upon the threat to public safety.
DATED this 4th day of March, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. N. Nathanson Legal Member
__________________ Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board