Pasquale Morabito

The Ontario Review Board held an annual review hearing for the accused, who was previously found not criminally responsible for break and enter and mischief.

The accused remains under a detention order at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

The Board heard evidence that the accused has made incremental progress despite recent incidents involving cannabis use.

All parties agreed that the accused continues to pose a significant threat to public safety.

The Board ordered that the current disposition be maintained with minor amendments, including extending the geographic boundary for community living to the Greater Toronto Area and setting a 200-kilometre radius for indirect privilege passes.

The accused was charged with nine offences arising from three separate incidents of alleged domestic violence spanning from 2013 to 2022.

The charges included multiple counts of assault, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, assault by choking, uttering death threats, and uttering threats to cause bodily harm.

The trial turned on credibility, with the complainant and accused providing conflicting accounts of events.

The court found the complainant's evidence credible and internally consistent, while finding the accused's denials of physical violence and threats inconsistent with surrounding circumstances and his own admissions in a counselling letter.

The court convicted on four counts and acquitted on the remaining charges.

The Ontario Review Board conducted an annual review of the accused's disposition.

The accused was previously found not criminally responsible for assault with a weapon.

The Board heard uncontroverted expert evidence that while the accused had a stable year and transitioned to independent living, he continues to lack insight and remains a significant threat to public safety.

The Board ordered a Conditional Discharge with conditions, including a requirement to reside at a specified address and a consent to treatment clause.

The accused, who was found not criminally responsible for assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm, appeared before the Ontario Review Board for an annual hearing.

The hospital proposed an absolute discharge, which was supported by the accused and ultimately the Crown.

The Board found that the accused had been stable in the community for years, was compliant with his schizophrenia medication, and had strong community supports.

Concluding that the accused no longer posed a significant threat to public safety, the Board granted an absolute discharge.

The Ontario Review Board conducted an annual review of the disposition for an accused previously found not criminally responsible for violent offences.

The accused, diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been living independently in the community, maintaining full-time employment, and demonstrating excellent insight and strict adherence to his long-acting antipsychotic medication.

Relying on the unanimous recommendation of the treatment team and the parties, the Board concluded that the accused's illness was in sustained remission and he no longer posed a significant threat to public safety.

The accused was granted an absolute discharge.

The Ontario Court of Justice convicted Rahjon Ceballo of assault with a weapon based on eyewitness testimony, surveillance video, and police evidence.

The key issue was identity, which was established through a combination of Mr. Tesfamariam’s detailed observations, photographs, and video footage showing the accused wearing distinctive clothing and holding a butter knife.

The court found the accused carried and used the butter knife to threaten or intimidate the victim, satisfying the elements of assault with a weapon under the Criminal Code.

The Ontario Court of Justice ruled on the Crown's application for a court-ordered assessment to determine if the defendant, Maxim Iltchenko, was Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) for two counts of threatening his mother, pursuant to s. 16 of the Criminal Code.

The defendant had previously been found guilty of the offences.

The Crown argued that Iltchenko's history of Bipolar Affective Disorder Type I, a previous NCR finding, his recent absolute discharge from the Ontario Review Board, and the nature of the current threats (triggered by a stressful event and escalating in intensity) provided reasonable grounds to doubt his criminal responsibility.

The defence opposed, arguing insufficient evidence of mental disorder symptoms at the time of the offences.

The court granted the Crown's application, finding reasonable grounds to doubt Iltchenko's criminal responsibility, citing his long-standing mental disorder, the triggering event, and the "odd" or "bizarre" nature of the threats consistent with his documented psychotic episodes.

The offender pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, unnecessary injury to a dog, and two counts of assault against his former girlfriend over a period spanning April 2017 to August 2018.

The offences occurred in the context of a domestic relationship characterized by escalating violence, control, humiliation, and threats.

The offender failed to attend multiple sentencing dates and did not cooperate with the presentence report process.

The court imposed a custodial sentence of 16 months less presentence custody, apportioned consecutively across the four counts, along with an 18-month probation order with conditions including no contact with the victim, participation in domestic violence programming, and prohibition on animal ownership.