The man who is accused of driving a bus into a Laval daycare centre, killing two children and injuring six others, is deemed fit to stand trial. His lawyer, however, immediately requested another psychiatric evaluation to determine whether or not he could be held criminally responsible for possible mental disorders.
Pierre Ny St-Amand faces nine counts, including two of first degree murder, one of attempted murder and six of child assault, for ramming a City of Laval bus into a daycare center of the Sainte-Rose district on February 8.
Last week, his lawyer, Mr.e Julien Lespérance Hudon, had requested a psychiatric evaluation of his client to determine if the accused was fit to stand trial. It concluded that yes, reported the lawyer Friday morning at the Laval courthouse. The psychiatric report was placed under seal in the court file.
Having read the findings of this report, however, the defense attorney said he had reasonable grounds to believe that his 51-year-old client may not have been able to tell right from wrong when he asked the gestures for which he is now facing justice. The defense therefore requested a 2e assessment, this time to determine the criminal responsibility of the accused at the time of the crime.
The Criminal Code provides that a judge may order an assessment of the mental state of the accused if he considers that such evidence is necessary to, among other things, “determine whether the accused was suffering from a mental disorder so as not to incur criminal liability”.
The Crown prosecutor, Mr.e Karine Dalphond did not object to this request and the judge ordered it.
In the event of not being criminally responsible
If a court were to ultimately come to a conclusion of “not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder”, this does not mean that the accused will be acquitted. Rather, it means that a judge acknowledges that he committed the crime, but considers that he should not be punished because he did not “choose” to commit it.
Not all people with mental disorders will automatically be declared not criminally responsible for their actions: the mental disorder must have had a clear and direct impact on the actions taken.
Finally, the accused found not criminally responsible is not necessarily released, the court can order that he remains in a psychiatric establishment.
Until the report of this second evaluation is presented in Court, Pierre Ny St-Amand must remain detained at the National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry Philippe-Pinel, where the expertise will also be carried out. The man will have to return to court on March 28.