Re Rallin Edward Lawes, 2026 CanLII 21132

Re: Rallin Edward Lawes

ORB File No: 1584/6368

Hearing held on: Monday, November 24, 2025

Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

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

Before: Alternate Chairperson: Ms. C. Finley Members: The Hon. B. Allen Dr. Y. Alatishe Dr. L. O. Lightfoot Mr. J. Cyr

Parties Appearing: Accused: Rallin Edward Lawes Counsel: Ms. S. Feldman

The person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. P. Darby

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. V. Culp

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated January 21, 2026)

Introduction

1. On February 26, 1993, Mr. Rallin Edward Lawes was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder on a charge of second-degree murder, contrary to the Criminal Code. Mr. Lawes was also found not criminally responsible on June 7, 2013, on account of mental disorder on a charge of aggravated assault, contrary to the Criminal Code.

2. Under s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code a panel of the Ontario Review Board (“the Board”) was convened on November 24, 2025, at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH or the Hospital”) to review Mr. Lawes's threat to public safety and the appropriate disposition under s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.

3. Mr. Lawes’s existing disposition dated November 15, 2024, provides that Mr. Lawes be be granted a conditional discharge on the conditions set out in the disposition.

4. The Hospital and Crown advanced a joint position that Mr. Lawes continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public and agree that the conditional discharge should be maintained on the existing conditions which include residing in LOFT housing. Mr. Lawes seeks an absolute discharge from the jurisdiction of the Board. He takes the position that if the Board is not inclined to grant an absolute discharge, he will join the Hospital’s position in support of a conditional discharge.

Disposition

5. For the reasons set out below the Board concludes under s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code that Mr. Lawes continues to pose a significant threat to public safety and that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a conditional discharge on the existing terms, conditions which includes living in LOFT housing.

Current Diagnosis

6. Mr. Lawes’s current diagnosis is schizophrenia.

The Evidence

7. The Board has before it the Hospital Report dated November 6, 2025, which contains an account of Mr. Lawes’s personal and psychiatric background which need not be repeated in detail here. The Board also has the oral evidence of Dr. Padraig Darby, the author of the Hospital Report.

Index Offences

8. The circumstances of the index offences are described in the Hospital Report. The first index offence of second-degree murder occurred on June 16, 1992, and is summarized as follows:

9. The victim and Mr. Lawes were living in the same rooming house in downtown Toronto. The victim died as a result of a single blow with a machete to his neck by Mr. Lawes. At the scene the victim was found with a knife in his right hand. During the police investigation Mr. Lawes maintained that he struck the victim in self-defence. It was the Crown’s position at the time that the victim was not armed with a knife at the time of his death. An investigation revealed that the victim was left-handed. It was the Crown’s further position that Mr. Lawes had placed the knife in the victim’s right hand after the killing. Mr. Lawes has continued to maintain that he acted in self-defence.

10. On August 10, 2012, Mr. Lawes committed the second index offence of aggravated assault, the facts of which are summarized as follows.

11. The victim in this matter who is Mr. Lawes’s landlord asked Mr. Lawes if he could attend Mr. Lawes’s residence to collect outstanding rent. Mr. Lawes agreed. Mr. Lawes invited the victim into the residence, and they went upstairs to the upper level where the accused resided. The victim picked up the rent money in the kitchen and started to walk out of the kitchen. Mr. Lawes then opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out an axe. He then began to strike the victim in the head and neck with the axe. During the attack Mr. Lawes told the victim that he was going to “chop you up”. The victim was able to escape outside. Police were called and Mr. Lawes was observed by witnesses to exit his home. He was subsequently arrested.

Criminal History

12. Before committing the first index offence Mr. Lawes had a limited criminal record consisting of one conviction for possession of a weapon.

Substance Use

13. Mr. Lawes has no history of misusing alcohol, street drugs or prescription medications.

Mr. Lawes’s Personal and Psychiatric History

Before the Current Reporting Year

Personal History

14. Mr. Lawes is 78 years of age. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He immigrated to Canada in 1971. He was married in 1981 and had a daughter with his wife who separated from him in 1987 taking the daughter with her. He has had no contact with his family for many years.

15. He held a number of jobs working in factories for several years. He was fired from the last of these in 1987. After returning to Jamaica for two years he returned to Canada, was unemployed and began receiving social assistance

Psychiatric History

16. Before the 1992 index offence Mr. Lawes had a brief history of psychiatric treatment. He was diagnosed in 1988 with paranoid schizophrenia after developing persecutory ideas, paranoid delusions, and auditory, olfactory and visual hallucinations. His family physician prescribed anti-psychotic medication. But Mr. Lawes discontinued this on his own. In 1991, his family physician prescribed another anti-psychotic medication which Mr. Lawes also discontinued.

17. Subsequent to the not criminally responsible finding in 1993 Mr. Lawes was detained at the Oak Ridge Division of the Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene. At the time he did not pose a management problem and was medication and treatment compliant. His hallucinations decreased with treatment. However, after trials with various anti-psychotic medications Mr. Lawes’s delusions remained unresponsive to treatment.

18. In 1997 Mr. Lawes was transferred to and detained at CAMH where he remained an inpatient until 2003. His treatment team described him as a “model patient” in regard to behaviour management and medication compliance. But the delusional content in his thought was not resolved by his medication. His delusional pattern and underlying psychotic symptoms remained fully intact.

19. In January 2003, Mr. Lawes was discharged to approved community accommodation. But in March 2003, some ten weeks later, due to being non-compliant with medication, he was readmitted to CAMH. Although he was discharged from the Hospital in mid-May 2003, he was readmitted two months later under suspicion that he was medication non-compliant and that his medication was not effective. Mr. Lawes was floridly psychotic on admission and continued to further decompensate until he was prescribed clozapine in mid-September 2003.

20. Clozapine markedly improved Mr. Lawes’s mental state and in November 2003 he was discharged to the community. However, by the end of the year he was re-admitted again exhibiting significant symptoms of psychosis. The staff discovered a large amount of unused clozapine in his suitcase in his apartment which led the staff to estimate that Mr. Lawes had only been compliant with clozapine at a rate of not more than 50 percent. He remained in the Hospital until October 2005 continuing to experience delusions and making unfounded accusations against staff, but he was not violent.

21. Mr. Lawes was able to remain in the community and appeared to be medication compliant after his discharge in October 2005. His delusional beliefs about a Canadian and Jamaican government conspiracy against him continued but he did not engage in violent or threatening behaviour. Regarding the first index offence Mr. Lawes continued to express the view that he had acted in self-defence. He maintained the view that were he not under the jurisdiction of the Board he would return to Jamaica and cease taking medication. He showed only limited insight into his mental illness.

22. After 2005, Mr. Lawes’s mental health trajectory over the next several years reflected the repeated pattern of readmission, stabilization, discharges to community living, non- adherence to medication and bouts of decompensation. His medication was not effective in stopping fluctuations in his mental state, being his paranoid thoughts about items being taken from him, his father and brothers being killed by the government and a strange odour emanating from his stomach that he believed was attributable to Satan. He also continued to express his wish to return to Jamaica and his plan not to take medication if out of the reach of the Board.

23. In October 2012, after the second index offence committed against his landlord Mr. Lawes expressed delusional beliefs about the landlord. He admitted to the clinical team that he had stopped taking his medications about a month before the second index offence claiming that the medication was, “hurting me man, or giving me cancer.” As an explanation as to why he attacked the landlord Mr. Lawes also expressed delusions about his landlord taking things from his apartment before the attack.

24. During the years after his detention in the Hospital following the second index offence, Mr. Lawes continued to experience significant delusions. However, he did not present with management concerns on the unit. By mid-2017 he was becoming more stable, no longer experiencing auditory hallucinations and was less focused on his delusional beliefs.

25. In April 2019, Mr. Lawes was discharged to LOFT housing, a 24-hour supervised residence in very close proximity to the Hospital. He continued to experience various delusions but did not exhibit behaviour that posed a risk of violence. There were no problematic incidents at his housing. He preferred to be solitary, spending his time reading his Bible.

26. In March 2020, Mr. Lawes was transferred to another LOFT residence with 24/7 supervision. He was cooperative with his treatment team, accepting medications but declining to attend programming. He maintained the hope that he would be granted an absolute discharge by the Board which would allow him to return to Jamaica.

27. In 2023 Mr. Lawes continued to reside in the same LOFT housing where he had lived for a few years. Given his advanced age he was placed on a wait list for senior housing.

28. Mr. Lawes was stable over the 2023/2024 clinical year. He generally presented as calm, cooperative, polite and pleasant. There were no incidents of concern in the community during that year. Mr. Lawes continued to be medication-compliant, still with the hope that the Board would allow an absolute discharge so he could move to Jamaica. His delusional beliefs remained intact. He continued to have poor insight into his mental illness, exhibiting fixed paranoid and grandiose delusions about the government, finances, property and his view that Satan was in his stomach.

The Current Reporting Period – 2024 to October 2025

29. Over the current reporting year Mr. Lawes has continued to reside at LOFT housing with 2 4/7 supervision. He is independent in performing his activities of daily living. He has a bachelor apartment with his own bathroom and appliances, and he prepares his own meals. Mr. Lawes continues to be satisfied with his housing. However, LOFT staff have felt it would be beneficial for him to move to St. Anne’s Place seniors’ nursing home.

30. With the objective of a transfer there Mr. Lawes was taken to visit St Anne’s. However, the transfer process was terminated because Mr. Lawes refused to move. Even though no resident from St. Anne’s made any direct comments to him he complained that the residents of St. Anne’s thought he was "a raccoon", "smell like raccoon". He also believed that the government of Jamaica would "target" and "kill" him.

31. During the current reporting year Mr. Lawes’s religion-dominated delusions remained intractable. In December 2024, February 2025, and June 2025, Mr. Lawes continued to take placards to a local church telling the minister about the “smell in his stomach” which he believed was caused by Satan residing inside his stomach. Mr. Lawes denied feeling angry towards church members for their inability to help him. Although no one had spoken to him in this regard he told the church that due to the smell he abstained from going inside the church.

32. Financially Mr. Lawes is supported by federal government old age pension benefits. To his favour he manages his own finances without any issues and is very good with budgeting his money and spending his money wisely.

33. The Hospital Report at page 47 addresses as follows the potential risk of Mr. Lawes re- offending:

If Mr. Lawes is to re-offend, it will likely transpire as a consequence of medication non-adherence and an intensification of his psychotic symptoms when not being actively supervised. Non-compliance with treatment would drastically raise his risk of violent behaviour. There is no reason to believe that he would not act out including violently in the future if he developed a perception that he was under threat financially, or more directly as he has articulated above. Given the history of the index offence, and his re-offending in 2012, the likely victim impact in any such re-offence scenario may well be significant.

Oral Evidence of Dr. Padraig Darby

34. Dr. Darby had no material updates to provide since the date of the Hospital Report.

35. Dr. Darby summarized the positive developments in Mr. Lawes’s case as well as the less favourable factors that make Mr. Lawes’s wish for an absolute discharge unreasonable.

36. Dr. Darby’s view is that Mr. Lawes has done very well since he attained an apartment in LOFT housing in 2020. There are no concerns with his adjustment to the housing. His apartment is well maintained, and he is independent in activities of daily living. Mr. Lawes does however prefer to isolate from other co-residents spending more time in his unit reading the Bible and listening to the radio.

37. Dr. Darby pointed out that the major concern is with the fact that there is no indication that Mr. Lawes’s core paranoid delusions have been affected by his antipsychotic medication. His delusions remain about his property being stolen by the Jamaican and Canadian governments, his religious delusion about a smell emanating from his stomach caused by Satan and his preoccupation with a local church, putting up placards about the smell and asking for the pastor’s and parishioners’ help and not receiving the help.

38. One of the concerns Dr. Darby expressed is that Mr. Lawes is still experiencing the same delusions he was suffering at the time of the index offence albeit in lesser intensity. The doctor pointed to the fact Mr. Lawes is medication incapable, has no insight into his mental illness or that the index offences were caused by his mental illness.

39. Dr. Darby spoke to another concern which is that Mr. Lawes has been candid in saying he wants an absolute discharge so he can move to his homeland, Jamaica, and he would stop taking his medication. Dr. Darby agreed with the point that Ms. Lawes is only externally motivated to comply with medication which presents a risk if he were granted an absolute discharge. Dr. Darby pointed out that Mr. Lawes is physically healthy and is capable of acting on his paranoid delusions.

The Parties’ Positions

40. As noted earlier the Hospital and Crown took a joint position which they maintain that Mr. Lawes should remain on a conditional discharge on the existing conditions. The Hospital and Crown believe that based on the Hospital Report and the oral evidence of Dr. Darby it is apparent that Mr. Lawes presents a significant threat to public safety and that the appropriate disposition is a conditional discharge with a condition among others that he reside at the LOFT accommodation where he currently resides.

41. Mr. Lawes maintains his position that he should be granted an absolute discharge. Counsel for Mr. Lawes raised several points in support of an absolute discharge. However, she took the position that if the Board does not support an absolute discharge Mr. Lawes will join the joint Hospital and Crown position.

42. In support of an absolute discharge counsel raised the following points: that Mr. Lawes currently has stable housing; that he has not been violent or aggressive in the community and described the religious delusion as odd but not having an aggressive element; he is medication compliant; the last time he was non-compliant was in 2021 when he spit out a half dose of his medication, but did apologize afterwards; and he has made no effort to put into effect the plan to move to Jamaica. It was counsel’s submission that based on the above factors significant threat has not been made out.

The Board’s Conclusion

43. Based on the evidence before us the Board unanimously accepts the opinion, as stated in the Hospital Report, that Mr. Lawes remains a significant threat to public safety within the criteria outlined in Winko v. British Columbia, 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 SCR 625, and as defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code. The Board considered the criteria, as set out in s. 672.54, namely, the paramount criterion of the safety of the public and Mr. Lawes’s community re-integration, his mental condition and his other needs.

44. We accept, in accordance with s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, that the least onerous and least restrictive disposition, that is necessary and appropriate in the circumstances is a conditional discharge on the same terms as the existing disposition. On the basis of the Board’s decision Mr. Lawes will abandon his desire for an absolute discharge and accept a conditional discharge.

45. The Board arrives at that decision for the following reasons.

46. The Board wishes to first acknowledge Mr. Lawes’s progress during the current reporting year. He enjoys and has been doing very well in his LOFT housing over the last three years being independent in his activities of daily living and capable with respect to his finances and budgeting his money appropriately. Mr. Lawes also works well with the treatment team and has not been medication non-compliant for four years.

47. However, in spite of his advancements the delusions Mr. Lawes was experiencing when he committed the index offences are still at play, although to a lesser degree, despite medication-compliance. The delusions to date have been intractable. Mr. Lawes has resisted therapeutic and recreational programs preferring to spend time alone in his room. With the violent nature of the index offences in mind and his relatively good physical health, Dr. Darby cautioned about a potential relapse to violence which makes Mr. Lawes a continued threat to public safety.

48. There is a paradoxical element to Mr. Lawes’s admitting what he plans to do. If he attains an absolute discharge, he says he will move to Jamaica and stop taking his medication. While it is concerning what Mr. Lawes is planning to do outside the reach of the Board, which will present a threat to the public, his honesty in admitting this has allowed the Board to decide to continue a disposition directed at obviating that risk. An absolute discharge is not the appropriate disposition in the circumstances.

49. Regarding Mr. Lawes’s accommodation he has declined a transfer to LOFT senior housing despite his advanced age and against the recommendation of the treatment team. LOFT staff felt it would be beneficial for him to move to LOFT’s seniors’ nursing home. The Board feels that it would be to Mr. Lawes’s benefit to consider transferring since he will be 79 years of age at the time of his next annual review and the accommodation will likely be more suitable to his needs going forward.

50. Based on the Hospital Report and the evidence added in Dr. Darby’s testimony the Board concludes, under s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, that Mr. Lawes remains a significant threat to public safety and that currently the necessary and appropriate disposition, that is the least onerous and the least restrictive to mitigate threat to public safety, is to maintain the existing conditional discharge on the existing conditions.

51. The existing disposition satisfies the paramount criterion under s. 672.54 of protecting the safety of the public and further meets Mr. Lawes’s interests in community re-integration and supports his mental health and his other needs.

DATED this 21^st^ day of January, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.

The Hon. B. Allen Legal Member

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Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board