https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/...d-in-woman-s-miscarriage-of-justice-case?bn=1
The Crown has stayed the charges against a woman kept in custody for nearly two years in what a judge has called a miscarriage of justice.
But Astrida Kankis says she’s considering appealing the stay, because assistant Crown attorney Onelia Delgado stated in court Wednesday she is mentally ill.
“I’m the victim here,” the 51-year-old cleaning company supervisor told provincial court Justice Peter Harris.
The prosecutor told the judge one reason the Crown is staying the charges is Kankis is getting treatment for her “significant mental health issue.”
In August 2010, provincial court Justice Sheila Ray found her guilty of six counts of breaching a recognizance for sending six letters to the family of her ex-boyfriend, in contravention of a peace bond.
Kankis admitted to sending the letters, which were full of health advice, but maintains she did nothing wrong.
After she was found guilty, the Crown applied, against her will, to have her found not criminally responsible owing to mental illness.
At a hearing in Feb. 2011, she was denied a two-week adjournment to get a lawyer and given 30 minutes to read a lengthy psychiatric report without benefit of a pen before she cross-examined its author.
In January, Superior Court Justice Gary Trotter found “her legal rights were factored completely out of the equation” when Ray declared her not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Trotter ordered a new trial, which was set for Jan. 2013.
In court Wednesday, Delgado cited Trotter’s ruling as one reason for staying the charges. She also noted Kankis had spent 680 days in custody awaiting trial or in detention after being found not criminally responsible.
The maximum sentence for the charges is six months.
Kankis has refused to sign a peace bond but has promised she will not contact the complainants, who “do not wish any contact,” the prosecutor said.
Kankis is on probation until Nov. 5 for separate convictions for breaching a peace bond and failing to comply with a recognizance, Delgado noted. Terms bar her from contacting the complainants.
She warned that should Kankis renew contact, new charges will be laid.
“She’s been through a lot,” Christopher Murphy, her court-appointed legal adviser, told the Star. The Crown should have stayed the charges as soon as it heard Trotter’s decision declaring a miscarriage of justice, he said.
Kankis said she initially wanted to overturn the stay because it seems predicated on her being labelled mentally ill, but Murphy has reassured her that is not the case. So she is reconsidering.
The crowns in Toronto are vicious to say the least and I am speaking from experience. In my case this is what the crown wrote in preparation of my bail hearing:
"She is XX years of age, Your Worship, born in XXXXX, but she is a Canadian Citizen. You heard that she operates an online escort service, and she has a grown daughter.
She refused to provide any other answers to any other personal questions without her lawyer present. There are, I would submit, some -- some pretty clear mental health issues that may be at play here."
So I don't talk to the cops - I am asserting my right to remain silent and for that I have some clear mental issues.
The Crown has stayed the charges against a woman kept in custody for nearly two years in what a judge has called a miscarriage of justice.
But Astrida Kankis says she’s considering appealing the stay, because assistant Crown attorney Onelia Delgado stated in court Wednesday she is mentally ill.
“I’m the victim here,” the 51-year-old cleaning company supervisor told provincial court Justice Peter Harris.
The prosecutor told the judge one reason the Crown is staying the charges is Kankis is getting treatment for her “significant mental health issue.”
In August 2010, provincial court Justice Sheila Ray found her guilty of six counts of breaching a recognizance for sending six letters to the family of her ex-boyfriend, in contravention of a peace bond.
Kankis admitted to sending the letters, which were full of health advice, but maintains she did nothing wrong.
After she was found guilty, the Crown applied, against her will, to have her found not criminally responsible owing to mental illness.
At a hearing in Feb. 2011, she was denied a two-week adjournment to get a lawyer and given 30 minutes to read a lengthy psychiatric report without benefit of a pen before she cross-examined its author.
In January, Superior Court Justice Gary Trotter found “her legal rights were factored completely out of the equation” when Ray declared her not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Trotter ordered a new trial, which was set for Jan. 2013.
In court Wednesday, Delgado cited Trotter’s ruling as one reason for staying the charges. She also noted Kankis had spent 680 days in custody awaiting trial or in detention after being found not criminally responsible.
The maximum sentence for the charges is six months.
Kankis has refused to sign a peace bond but has promised she will not contact the complainants, who “do not wish any contact,” the prosecutor said.
Kankis is on probation until Nov. 5 for separate convictions for breaching a peace bond and failing to comply with a recognizance, Delgado noted. Terms bar her from contacting the complainants.
She warned that should Kankis renew contact, new charges will be laid.
“She’s been through a lot,” Christopher Murphy, her court-appointed legal adviser, told the Star. The Crown should have stayed the charges as soon as it heard Trotter’s decision declaring a miscarriage of justice, he said.
Kankis said she initially wanted to overturn the stay because it seems predicated on her being labelled mentally ill, but Murphy has reassured her that is not the case. So she is reconsidering.
The crowns in Toronto are vicious to say the least and I am speaking from experience. In my case this is what the crown wrote in preparation of my bail hearing:
"She is XX years of age, Your Worship, born in XXXXX, but she is a Canadian Citizen. You heard that she operates an online escort service, and she has a grown daughter.
She refused to provide any other answers to any other personal questions without her lawyer present. There are, I would submit, some -- some pretty clear mental health issues that may be at play here."
So I don't talk to the cops - I am asserting my right to remain silent and for that I have some clear mental issues.
