ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
COURT FILE NO.: CRIM J(P) 2083/12
DATE: 2014 -11-19
BETWEEN:
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
– and –
RYAN EDWARDS
Defendant
John Kingdon, for the Crown
Shauna Pemberton, for the Defendant
HEARD: September 16, 25, 29, 2014
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
M. J. Donohue, J.:
THE CHARGES
Count 1: Attempted murder s. 239(1)(b), December 22, 2011
Count 2: Attempted murder s. 239(1)(b), December 22, 2011
OVERVIEW
[1] Mr. Edwards committed two separate attacks with a knife in the evening of December 22, 2011. He is charged with two separate counts of attempt murder. The issue of whether the attacks amounted in law to attempt murder is conceded by the defence, as the accused acknowledged to the police that he intended to kill his victims. The sole issue in this case is whether the accused is not criminally responsible pursuant to s. 16(1) of the Criminal Code.
[2] The primary witnesses on the issue were two psychiatrists. Both doctors conceded that, on the night in question, the accused was able to appreciate the nature and quality of his actions.
[3] The issue, therefore, narrowed to whether the accused was aware that his actions were legally and morally wrong.
THE EVIDENCE HEARD AT TRIAL
Re Attack #1 Mr. Singh
[4] Mr. Gurpreet Singh testified that he had returned home after work that evening at approximately 6:40 p.m. He drove his car into the garage, and closed the automatic garage door. He was about to enter into his house when the door suddenly began to reopen. Mr. Singh saw a man standing outside, asking him to step out to answer some questions. Mr. Singh came outside.
[5] He recognized the accused, Mr. Ryan Edwards, as being his neighbour on Royal Spring Crescent, whom he had sometimes greeted with a “hi, hello”. Mr. Edwards was wearing a loose sweatshirt with a hoodie and jeans. At that time, he thought Mr. Edwards appeared normal. They had not argued.
[6] Mr. Edwards asked if he knew what time it was and Mr. Singh replied, “No.” Suddenly, the accused pulled out a knife and tried to stab Mr. Singh on the left side of his waist. Mr. Singh pushed the accused back and ran, screaming, across the street to his neighbour’s house. His neighbour, Raj, and he were then together. His neighbour called to his wife to bring him the phone and he called 911.
[7] Mr. Singh said the attempted stabbing was for no apparent reason. Fortunately, he was unharmed.
[8] Mr. Singh testified that he observed the accused walk up the road waiving the knife over his head. He thought the waving knife behaviour was bizarre. He observed Mr. Edwards walk to his own home where he walked back and forth from the garage to the edge of the road. Approximately five to six minutes after, Mr. Singh no longer saw the accused and did not know where he had gone.
Re Attack #2 Mr. Gill
[9] Mr. Mehar Gill resides on Sahara Trail.
[10] His neighbour, Eva Martino, testified that on the evening of December 22, 2011, she was out in her garage with her husband, Paulo, and her brother Enzo. They were having a cigarette, and waiting for her husband’s car to be delivered by his mechanic. They expected the car between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m.
[11] During this time, she saw the accused approach the garage door asking her husband for a cigarette. She knew Mr. Edwards and had seen him do this before in the neighbourhood.
[12] Ms. Martino thought he looked like he might be on drugs. He appeared rough and dirty with oily hair and unwashed clothes. She knew something was wrong with him.
[13] She said her husband refused Mr. Edwards the cigarette. She then saw the accused go up the street to her friends’ house, Rose and Vince. They did not answer the door and Mr. Edwards returned to them. She described him as being more upset and agitated, again asking for a cigarette.
[14] Her husband again refused and she heard the two of them arguing. Mr. Edwards was very agitated and even more upset. Ms. Martino had given him a cigarette about a week or two before and he now seemed like a different person.
[15] Her husband told him to “get off his property”. She then observed the accused say, “I have a knife in my pocket and if I had a gun I would shoot you in the head.” While saying this he patted the jacket pocket on his right side.
[16] Ms. Martino then saw her husband take out his phone, take Mr. Edward’s picture, and say, “I am going to call the police.”
[17] Ms. Martino went inside to call her neighbour, Vince, to come over. She believed she was inside the house about two minutes.
[18] When she came back outside she saw Mr. Edwards running “fast” up the street. She also saw her neighbour, Mr. Gill “on the floor”, in front of 63 Sahara Drive, about four houses from his home. She saw a knife in his back.
[19] Ms. Martino testified that her husband called 911. She and her husband and brother went to help Mr. Gill. She saw the knife was a kitchen knife, about eight inches long.
[20] Mr. Mehar Gill testified that he was 60 years of age at the time of the attack. He worked at a factory that day and took the bus home. He was walking home from the bus stop. He resided at 50 Sahara Trail in Brampton.
[21] He was walking alone and there was no one around. He was about six houses away from his home, when he passed a young man. Nothing was said between them.
[22] As he passed, the young man stabbed his back on the right side with a knife and ran off. The knife was left in his back. The police and ambulance arrived and Mr. Gill slowly pulled the knife out of himself.
[23] He was taken to hospital and admitted for three days. Fortunately, he did not require surgery. He was released on bed rest and medication. He was off work for about four months.
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[162] The accused has not discharged the onus on the balance of probabilities that he suffered from a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of appreciating the legal or moral wrongness of his actions.
[163] Accordingly, I find the accused guilty on both counts.
M.J. Donohue, J.
Released: November 19, 2014