Mental health cited in terror case
Lawyer says client might plead not criminally responsible
VANCOUVER — The lawyer for one of the suspects in an alleged terrorism plot to bomb the British Columbia legislature on Canada Day might argue that his client was not criminally responsible.
John Nuttall was charged last month along with his girlfriend, Amanda Korody, in what the RCMP described as an al-Qaidainspired plan to use pressurecooker bombs to target holiday festivities in Victoria.
The couple made a brief appearance Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court, where Korody blew a kiss toward Nuttall as a judge adjourned the case until late September.
Because Nuttall has been “certified” under mental-health laws and transferred to a forensic hospital, his lawyer, Tom Morino, raised the possibility that he could argue that his client is not criminally responsible.
“In my opinion, there’s a sufficient nexus in time between this certification and the alleged incidents that it certainly raises the spectre of NCRMD [not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder] — or as we used to call it, ‘insanity,’ ” Morino said outside court.
Morino declined to say whether he intended to use such an argument, adding, “It is absolutely impossible to tell at this early stage.”
Korody, whose hair was tied back in a ponytail with a pink band, was otherwise expressionless during Wednesday’s brief appearance, though as it finished, she turned to Nuttall and appeared to ask, “Does that mean we can go home?”
Nuttall, a tall slender man with shaggy hair and an unkempt beard, alternated his gaze between Korody and the public gallery, which was full of journalists and two courtroom sketch artists.
Morino said a psychiatrist has determined Nuttall should be moved from a provincial jail to a forensic hospital in Coquitlam, east of Vancouver, though Morino said he hadn’t yet learned what precisely prompted the transfer.
He declined to say whether Nuttall has a history of mental illness, though he suggested the jailhouse psychiatric assessment could be significant at trial.
Korody is being represented by a separate lawyer, Mark Jette, though he wasn’t in court on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Morino declined to answer questions about Korody, such as whether she was in jail or, like Nuttall, had been transferred to a mental-health facility.
Nuttall and Korody were arrested on Canada Day and each charged with facilitating terrorist activity and making or possessing explosives.
At the time, the RCMP described the pair as “self-radicalized” and inspired by an “alQaida ideology,” but also said there was no evidence the pair had any links to outside groups.
The Mounties alleged the plot involved homemade bombs built using pressure cookers, similar to those used during the Boston Marathon bombings in April, though investigators insisted the devices connected to the B.C. plot were inert and could not have exploded.
The RCMP have said little else about the alleged plot or the evidence against Nuttall and Korody. Nuttall’s lawyer has suggested they were targeted by an undercover operation similar to socalled “Mr. Big” schemes that invite suspects into fictitious criminal organizations in order to elicit confessions.
In the days following the charges, a picture emerged of a troubled couple who struggled with drug use and, in the case of Korody, mental illness.
Friends and acquaintances recalled both were longtime drug users.
Methadone bottles bearing Korody’s name could be seen in their apartment after their landlord allowed journalists inside, and Morino has confirmed that Nuttall was also taking methadone.
Korody’s friends said she had been treated for mental illness, and a blog that friends confirmed belonged to Korody included posts about having an anxiety disorder.
Morino said Nuttall and Korody have yet to enter a formal plea, but not guilty pleas have been entered on their behalf.
When asked whether Nuttall denies the allegations against him, Morino responded with a simple “No comment.”
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Their next appearance is set for Sept. 20.