citation: "R. v Katsikaris, 2017 ONSC 3640" parties: "Her Majesty the Queen v. Steve Katsikaris" party_moving: "Steve Katsikaris" party_responding: "Her Majesty the Queen" court: "Superior Court of Justice" court_abbreviation: "ONSC" jurisdiction: "Ontario" case_type: "appeal" date_judgement: "2017-06-13" date_heard: "2017-06-12" applicant:

"Steve Katsikaris" applicant_counsel: "Self-represented" respondent:
"Her Majesty the Queen" respondent_counsel:
"Danielle Carbonneau" judge:
"R.F. Goldstein" summary: > The appellant, Steve Katsikaris, appealed the imposition of a common law peace bond by a trial judge following his acquittal on a charge of threatening death. The trial judge had dismissed the threatening charge, finding the Crown had not proven intent, but issued a peace bond due to concerns for the safety of a doctor and a police chief, based on a reasonable apprehension of a breach of the peace. On appeal, Katsikaris raised various unrelated issues. The Superior Court affirmed the trial judge's jurisdiction to impose the common law peace bond, citing R. v. Parks, and found no error in the exercise of discretion, dismissing the appeal. interesting_citations_summary: > This decision affirms the common law jurisdiction of a trial judge to impose a peace bond, even after an acquittal, where there is a reasonable apprehension of a breach of the peace. It relies on the principle established in R. v. Parks, which confirms the inherent authority of the court to prevent breaches of the peace. The case highlights that an appellant must address the legal issues relevant to the appeal, rather than extraneous matters, for their submissions to be considered pertinent. final_judgement: The appeal is dismissed, and the common law peace bond is upheld. winning_degree_applicant: 5 winning_degree_respondent: 1 judge_bias_applicant: 0 judge_bias_respondent: 0 year: 2017 decision_number: 3640 file_number: "CR-17-10000006-00AP" source: "https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2017/2017onsc3640/2017onsc3640.html" cited_cases: legislation: [] case_law:
- title: "R. v. Parks, [1992] 2 S.C.R. 871" url: "https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1992/1992canlii78/1992canlii78.html" keywords:
Criminal law
Appeal
Peace bond
Common law jurisdiction
Threatening death
Mental Health Act
R. v. Parks areas_of_law:
Criminal Law
Civil Procedure

Court File and Parties

Court File No.: CR-17-10000006-00AP Date: 2017-06-13 Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Between: Her Majesty the Queen – and – Steve Katsikaris

Counsel: Danielle Carbonneau, for the Crown Steve Katsikaris on his own behalf

Heard: June 12, 2017

Before: R.F. Goldstein J.

Reasons for Judgment

[1] On November 18, 2015 Mr. Katsikaris attended at the Ryerson Medical Centre for a mental health assessment. Dr. Hogarth saw him. She became concerned about his stability. He became agitated and angry. Mr. Katsikiaris told her that police officers were trying to kill him. He specifically mentioned killing Paul Martin, the Chief of Durham Regional Police. In the course of her assessment Dr. Hogarth became concerned that there was a risk he would cause harm to others. She issued a Form 1 under the Mental Health Act. He was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital for a psychiatric assessment.

[2] Mr. Katsikaris was arrested and charged with threatening death. He was tried by Justice Bigelow of the Ontario Court of Justice. Justice Bigleow dismissed the charge. His Honour found that the Crown had not proven that the Mr. Katsikaris intended to threaten Chief Martin or that he meant that the threat be taken seriously.

[3] After the acquittal the Crown requested a common law peace bond. Justice Bigelow was concerned about the safety of Dr. Hogarth and Chief Martin. He explained that Mr. Katsikaris was simply required to stay away from them.

[4] Mr. Katsikaris appeals. He raised multiple issues before me. Most of the issues had nothing to do with the case. He asked for disclosure, although it was not clear to me what he was asking for disclosure of. He made a number of allegations relating to conspiracies by various police forces. He seemed to suggest that the government of the United States was also involved. It appears that there might be some kind of history between Mr. Katsikaris and the police force and the local government in the Town of Kawartha Lakes. It was unclear to me if there was any connection between that and the appeal. In any event, none of his submissions directly addressed the real issue, which was whether or not the trial judge had the jurisdiction to impose a common law peace bond and whether it was justified.

[5] It is clear that Justice Bigelow had the jurisdiction under his authority at common law: R. v. Parks, [1992] 2 S.C.R. 871 at para. 63. It is also clear that there was evidence before him that there was a reasonable apprehension that Mr. Katsikaris may breach the peace. His mental health is an issue. He lives next door to Chief Martin. He also indicated that he might want to reach out to Dr. Hogarth.

[6] There was a clearly basis for the trial judge to issue the peace bond. I see no error and no reason to interfere with what was essentially the exercise of his discretion. The appeal is dismissed.

R.F. Goldstein J. Released: June 13, 2017