Charges to proceed on alleged subway pusher

ANTHONY REINHART

Globe and Mail Update

April 3, 2009 at 3:56 PM EDT

A Toronto man accused of trying to kill three teenagers by pushing them in front of a subway in February has mental health problems, but they would not have stopped him from appreciating the nature of his actions at the time of the incident, his lawyer said Friday.

This means criminal proceedings are likely to go ahead against Adenir DeOliveira, 47, who is charged with the attempted murder of the three boys at the Dufferin subway station on Feb. 13.

Mr. DeOliveira is alleged to have approached the boys from behind and shoved them towards an approaching train. Two of the boys tumbled to the tracks, and one, who is 14, pulled his friend, 15, to safety under the lip of the platform. The 15-year-old suffered a serious injury to his foot.

Since then, Mr. DeOliveira has been in custody, and for the past several weeks, underwent a psychiatric assessment at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

A 36-page report on the assessment, which will become public once it is entered as evidence at trial, “suggests psychiatric issues, but not a lack of criminal responsibility” on Mr. DeOliveira's part, his lawyer, Ian Kostman, said after a brief appearance at Old City Hall courts today. “It looks as if we're moving in the direction of a trial,” Mr. Kostman said.

He did not seek bail and conceded to the Crown's request to keep the accused in jail to await pre-trial proceedings. Citing the CAMH report, Mr. Kostman also asked that Mr. DeOliveira be monitored while in jail because he “may be a threat to himself.”

Court previously heard that Mr. DeOliveira, who has no criminal record, had been experiencing “auditory hallucinations” before the incident.

A police source has said the accused, who owns a small lawn-sprinkling business, had lived a normal life until a year ago, when he was prescribed medication for depression.

He is next scheduled to appear in court, by video link, on April 9.

Source

 

Notice that the Globe did not "invite" comments"

One reason could be that mental health issues are a 'taboo' subject.

Only one problem, it clogs our courts with family , civil and criminal cases, with judges riddled with severe personality disorders.

 

The first solution to this massive problem is to have psychological screening of judges prior to their nomination aka selection or aka "appointment" or more appropriately "annoitment".

 

www.OttawaMensCentre.com