LRT killer kept in hospital over ‘homebrew’ at remand centre
An Edmonton judge has ordered a convicted killer to remain in hospital for fear his mental health will deteriorate to the point he is unable to participate in his next court appearance.
In May 2016, a jury found Jeremy Newborn guilty of seconddegree murder for the fatal beating of a fellow LRT passenger in 2012.
John Hollar, 29, died in hospital of blunt cranial trauma two days after the Dec. 28, 2012, attack by Newborn.
However, Newborn plans to challenge the constitutionality of Canada’s automatic life sentence for a second-degree murder conviction. During the jury trial, his lawyer argued Newborn lacks the mental capacity to form intent to kill.
In March 2017, Newborn was transferred to Alberta Hospital in a “florid psychotic state” after consuming “homebrew” — alcohol covertly produced by inmates at the Edmonton Remand Centre.
Newborn’s condition has since stabilized through treatment, and he is once again able to instruct his counsel.
His Charter challenge hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11-15.
In a ruling filed with the court Friday, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Brian Burrows ordered that Newborn stay in hospital until the conclusion of the December hearing, rejecting an application by Alberta Health Services to have him returned to the remand centre.
At a hearing earlier this month, the health authority argued the issues that triggered Newborn’s transfer from jail to hospital have been remedied, and that hospital resources ought now be freed up for other prisoners who are not fit or whose fitness needs to be assessed.
He could continue to receive medications and have his condition monitored while in the remand’s mental health unit, the health authority said.
Court heard there is a waiting list of prisoners in need of hospital assessments, which has resulted in two recently ordered assessments not being completed because of a lack of resources.
However, both Newborn’s defence lawyer, Simon Renouf, and the case’s Crown prosecutor, John Watson, opposed the application.
Watson doubted remand staff could prevent Newborn from consuming more “homebrew,” and noted it could take months to re-stabilize him, potentially derailing the December hearing.
In his decision, Burrows wrote that the application before him could be interpreted as asking the court to determine how the province’s “limited resources” ought to be deployed, noting that the parties on opposing sides of the issue are members of the same government.
But he determined there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Newborn’s return to the jail could result in him becoming mentally unfit to instruct counsel, and ordered that Newborn continue in hospital until a further order is made after the December hearing.