Court of Appeal

NOVA SCOTIA COURT OF APPEAL

Citation: R. v. K.A.S., 2007 NSCA 119

Date: 20071207

Docket: CAC 282622

Registry: Halifax

Between:

K.A.S.

Appellant

v.

Her Majesty the Queen

Respondent

Judge:                            The Honourable Justice Nancy Bateman

Appeal Heard:                November 14, 2007

Subject:                Not criminally responsible (“NCR”) accused - appeal from Disposition Order of Review Board (Criminal Code of Canada,R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46,  Part XX.1)                   

Summary:             Appellant NCR accused appealed from a Disposition of the Nova Scotia Review Board, providing that she be conditionally discharged.  The appellant sought an absolute discharge, it being her submission that because her psychosis was now  controlled with medication, due to her HIV status and drug use, she was a public health risk only and no longer within the jurisdiction of the Review Board.

Issue:                    Did the Board err in finding that the appellant continued to present a significant risk to the safety of the public?

Result:                  Appeal dismissed.  The Board’s decision is to be reviewed on a standard of reasonableness simpliciter as provided in the Criminal Code (672.78(1)).   The Board found that the appellant continued to pose a significant risk to the safety of the public due to her abuse of drugs which could cause her delusions to return.  When psychotic she believes she is working as a prostitute as an undercover police agent and is incapable of transmitting or contracting disease through sexual conduct.  The Board’s conclusion that the potential that K.A.S.  will assault a sexual partner through the failure to disclose her HIV status rendered her a significant threat and the consequent disposition order were not unreasonable in the sense of not being supported by reasons that can bear even a somewhat probing examination (R. v. Owen, [2003] 1 S.C.R. 779 at para. 33).