Assessment ordered for man accused of stabbing
A 25-year-old man accused of breaking into a home earlier this month and stabbing a resident while he slept has been denied bail and ordered to have a psychological assessment.
Citing the serious charges and the apparent strength of the Crown’s case, Judge Gregory Maxwell refused to release Josh Lee Goodrider, who has been in custody since he was arrested May 2. He also ordered Goodrider to submit to a 30day forensic examination at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre in Calgary, to determine if he was, at the time of the commission of the alleged offence, suffering from a mental disorder that could exempt him from criminal responsibility.
Duty counsel lawyer Richard Dalby argued during Friday’s bail hearing in Lethbridge provincial court that Goodrider has been taking his medications while in custody and is doing much better.
“He’s safe to be released at this time,” Dalby said.
The Crown argued, however, the accused’s behaviour after he was arrested warrants his detention and psychiatric assessment.
Although evidence presented during a bail hearing is typically covered by a publication ban, the Crown pointed out during an earlier court hearing that the accused told police during his arrest that the world was ending, the sun is expanding and the planets are going to be destroyed. He accused the victim of killing his people, and claimed he was only trying to help because people keep slaughtering each other.
He told police he is nature; he was in the First World War and had been killed many times; time travel is real; don’t trust Google because it controls people; people are ghosts and ghosts were trying to get in the victim’s home and he wanted to stop them.
During the previous hearing, Dalby acknowledged concerns about Goodrider’s ability to instruct counsel, and said the accused understands he suffers from psychosis when he is off his medication, but since being in custody and receiving medication, he’s doing well.
Goodrider is accused of randomly entering a home along Highway 5 east of Cardston about 5:30 a.m. May 2 and stabbing a sleeping man in the head and chest. The victim ran to his truck and drove to the end of his driveway, where he stopped and called 911. He was taken to the Cardston Hospital and treated for nonlife-threatening injuries.
The case is scheduled to return to court June 26 for an update on the assessment and to see if Goodrider has a lawyer.
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