Psychiatric assessment ordered for accused
Case set to return to court June 3
A Halifax man accused of attacking his mother with a machete has been ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment.
Satrajpal Singh Rai, 56, faces three charges in connection with an April 3 incident at his apartment building on South Park Street: attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
The victim was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, Halifax Regional Police said in an April 4 news release.
Rai was arrested at the scene. He appeared in Halifax provincial court the next day and again April 25.
He returned to court Thursday with lawyer Anna Mancini, who said she met with him in person in jail this week and spoke with him by phone on another occasion.
Mancini requested that Rai be remanded to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth for a psychiatric assessment. Specifically, she wants a medical opinion on whether her client was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the incident that would have rendered him not criminally responsible for his alleged actions.
“There’s some suggestion in the initial (evidence) disclosure of some hallucinations and, I guess, disturbed behaviour at the time of arrest,” Mancini explained to the court.
She said Rai confirmed that in their discussions, giving rise to the defence application for the assessment.
Crown attorney Shani Frugtniet took no position on the motion.
Judge Christine Driscoll granted the request and scheduled the case to return to court June 3.
Driscoll told Mancini that Rai’s matters can be brought back to court earlier if the psychiatric report is ready.
The judge ordered the accused to have no contact with his mother.