Woman deemed ‘threat’ deserved to know why
A Calgary woman found not criminally responsible in the choking death of her disabled daughter was entitled to know why she was deemed a danger, Alberta’s top court has ruled.
In a written decision released Thursday, a three-member Alberta Court of Appeal panel said the Alberta Review Board should have provided reasons for finding Patricia Couture posed a public risk.
But the appeal judges said that since Couture’s status has subsequently changed, there was no need for them to rule on the appropriateness of the board’s finding.
The board initially found Couture was a “significant threat to the safety of the public” last Feb. 1, and issued a disposition in March, which included her detention in a psychiatric facility at the discretion of doctors.
Defence counsel Andre Ouellette said Couture was initially kept in hospital for a few weeks before being allowed to return to her home.
He and co-counsel Laura Snowball had argued the review board should not have found Couture posed an ongoing risk to the public based on the evidence before it.
The appeal judges said that because the board issued a second disposition order in September, which wasn’t subject to their review, the appeal before them was moot.
But they did say the board failed by not providing adequate reasons for finding Couture posed a danger, even though she could not have anyone under her care.
Couture was found not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder in the death of her daughter, Melissa.
The dead woman suffered from cerebral palsy and a condition called Pseudo-Hurler’s Syndrome, which affected her ability to swallow.
The official cause of her April 26, 2016, death was choking on a foreign object, possibly meat, which was found in her trachea.
Provincial court Judge John Bascom found Couture was mentally ill at the time and could not comprehend the gravity of her conduct when she failed to properly care for her daughter.