John Nuttall is shown in this undated photo. Nuttall and his partner, Amanda Korody, were arrested on July 1 and charged with terrorism-related crimes.
Photograph by: Kristina Verruyt , THE CANADIAN PRESS
John Nuttall, 38, has been certified under the Mental Health Act and is being treated at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, defence lawyer Tom Morino said Friday.
Nuttall and his partner, Amanda Marie Korody, 30, were arrested in Abbotsford on July 1 and charged with attempting to kill or maim thousands of people at the legislature by exploding three bombs filled with rusty nails as part of a terrorist attack.
The two were arrested after a five-month investigation by the RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.
Morino said he did not know why Nuttall had been certified. Earlier this week, the defence lawyer said he believed Korody was "in a similar situation."
"This certainly raises the spectre of John's fitness to stand trial and whether he is not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder," said Morino, who stressed he was speaking only for Nuttall. "I will have to give serious consideration as to if, and when, I make an application to the court for further assessment."
B.C. Corrections released a statement saying they cannot speak to the specifics of an inmate's case management due to privacy legislation.
The couple's next court appearance is set for Aug. 7 in B.C. Supreme Court.
B.C.'s Mental Health Act states that if someone poses an immediate serious threat to themselves or others because of a mental illness, or if someone is at significant risk of deterioration if they don't get treatment in hospital, and they refuse treatment, then they can be certified and admitted to a psychiatric facility for treatment, said Dr. Johann Brink, director of the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital. The act lays out what conditions need to apply before somebody can be treated with psychiatric medication against their will.
"When it comes to inmates or people held in pre-trial centres, there is a tighter requirement for two mental health certificates completed by medical health practitioners before that person can be removed from jail or the pre-trial centre to a psychiatric hospital," Brink said.
Involuntary treatment can be given only in a hospital setting, he said. People cannot be treated against their will in a jail or pre-trial centre.
Patients who are certified come to the psychiatric hospital for treatment, not for an assessment.
"We treat them, and once they are better, we return them to the correctional facility," Brink said. "We do not do any court assessments or fitness to stand trial or criminal responsibility unless we've been ordered to do that. That's a separate process."
Sometimes the court, Crown prosecutors or defence lawyers become aware a person has been certified and is in hospital.
"If someone is so ill they need involuntary treatment, the court and the lawyers have to ask: Should we ask for an order that fitness be evaluated?" Brink said.
When someone is certified, court proceedings may be postponed, but they do not avoid court proceedings, he said. "They are still under the criminal justice system. Once they improve to the point that they are no longer certifiable under the [Mental Health Act], we discharge them back to the correction facility."
Being certified does not suggest someone was mentally ill at the time they allegedly committed an offence, Brink said.
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